The MAHA drama dust has, at least appears to have, settled. ACT Three was swift but was thrilling too. Most people initially thought that BJP managed another successful coup and grabbed power. That was not to be. Nobody knows the number of supporters Ajit Pawar had to start with. But at the end it was just next to zero. At the end of 80-hour government the deputy CM resigned. Perhaps he didn’t attend office even for an hour. Within an hour or so Fadnavis followed suit pre-empting the confidence motion slated for the next day. In the brief period as CM Fadnavis closed some corruption cases pending against Ajit Pawar.

Uddhav became the first ever Thackeray family member to become MAHA chief minister with the support of the Congress party and NCP. This coalition of strange bedfellows has a long way to go. A proper government is still not in place although it is almost a week (as of 4^th December) since the CM took oath. Coalition partners will bargain hard for key portfolios.

Fair or unfair, these are things which we will witness in the days and months to come in other states.

In the whole drama the cunning sutradara was the grand old man of Indian politics Sharad Pawar. He very cleverly outwitted and outsmarted the so-called Chanakya of BJP – Amit Shah.

There is a silver lining in this sordid sequence of events. That is the supremacy of our Supreme Court. The court ordered immediate vote of confidence so that there is no scope for horse trading. I feel that the court was within its rights to pass comments on the unholy haste with which the president’s rule was revoked and the unholy haste with which the chief minister was sworn in. However, the court chose not to touch those issues.

Who are the winners and who are the losers in this power game? The clear winner without doubt is Sharad Pawar. He will control the government. Congress is also a winner. By opting for speakership, the party has played the right strategic card. Speaker may play a crucial role in the present scenario. Shiv Sena, I feel is a big loser. More so if the party comes under pressure to dilute its stance on Hindutva. BJP has lost power. But it may gain in the longer run