Political business: Fadnavis' Maha return, Sukhbir Badal dodges death

Devendra Fadnavis' return to Maharashtra throne, assassination attempt on Sukhbir Singh Badal in Punjab and more in this week's political news wrap

Maharashtra was at the centre of news this week as suspense loomed large over Mahayuti 2.0's chief ministerial choice, which ended in an expected political comeback. In Punjab, a former deputy chief minister accepted a religious punishment to perform service at gurdwaras and narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, a logjam continued in Parliament even as the treasury and opposition struck a deal to hold debates.

 

Here's what made headlines in politics this week:

 

Fadnawins Maharashtra

 

In perhaps the biggest political comeback of the year, Devendra Fadnavis returned as the chief minister of Maharashtra for the third time on Thursday. After his last term, which lasted only 80 hours, ended abruptly in 2019, Fadnavis got another shot at the top in 2022 after Eknath Shinde's rebellion in Shiv Sena helped bring the BJP back to power. However, Fadnavis had to swallow the bitter pill for the sake of the party and agreed to be Shinde's deputy to run the Mahayuti government without any hiccups.

 

 

This time, the BJP, bolstered by its improved showing in the state elections and winning the maximum seats in the alliance, rewarded its trusted lieutenant for his patience and backed him to lead the coalition government. A sulking Shinde offered support to BJP's choice for chief minister but openly showed discomfort about joining the cabinet and being the deputy of his former deputy. He eventually caved in and took the oath with Fadnavis on Thursday, with reports suggesting that the BJP placated him by offering the home and finance departments.

 

Wild, wild Punjab

 

Punjab almost saw flashes of the 1995 Beant Singh assassination as a man tried to shoot former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal outside the Golden Temple on Wednesday. The attacker, identified as Narain Singh Chaura, is a former member of the Khalistani terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International.

 

The incident occurred when Badal and members of his Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) party were serving a religious punishment on the decree of Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs. The Akal Takht had found Badal "guilty of religious misconduct," which included incidents of sacrilege during SAD's tenure from 2007 to 2017. The punishment includes cleaning washrooms, utensils, and other forms of sewa at gurdwaras.

 

Badal, who stepped down from the post of SAD president last month, is trying to revive his party's fortunes, which have dwindled since the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 under the SAD-BJP rule. The revival of SAD, predominantly a Sikh-centric political party, also holds the key to countering the radical pro-Khalistan sentiment in Punjab, which has seen an uptick as evident from the election victory of jailed Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh.

 

INDIA allies ditch Congress in Parliament

 

Parliament continued to witness disruptions as the Congress-led opposition raised demands for debates on issues such as the Adani Group bribery row and Sambhal violence. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arranged an all-party meeting on Monday to break the logjam, following which MPs in both houses agreed to hold a debate on the Constitution on December 13 and 14.

 

The Congress continued to press for a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Adani row and called for a joint opposition protest on Tuesday. However, the Congress found itself without two of its key allies – the Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress. Reports suggest that the two opposition parties want the Congress to prioritise other issues, such as unemployment, price rise, and the release of central funds to states. The parties even skipped the INDIA bloc meeting at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Monday.