Some of the recent developments should help freeze the political situation in Maharashtra. In consultation with the erstwhile BLD and Jana Sangh leaders, Mr. Charan Singh has turned down the proposal that Mr. Uttam Rao Patil be replaced as leader of the state legislature party by someone more acceptable to Congressmen, who are said to be otherwise willing to enter into an alliance with the Janata. More or less simultaneously, Mr. Y.B. Chavan has repudiated Mr. Madhu Limaye’s claim that he is prepared to advise his followers in the state Congress legislature party to scuttle the present coalition with the Congress (I) and form either a minority government which the Janata will support or a coalition government with the Janata. Mr. Sharad Pawar, a close lieutenant of Mr. Chavan, has, on the other hand, not only discounted the possibility of the Congress-Congress (I) merger in Maharashtra but also appears to have mobilized a measure of support for his viewpoint among younger elements in the Congress. Finally, the Congress (1) seems to be interested in cutting down in size Mr. Tirpude, the deputy chief minister, who has been making some rather provocative statements about Mr. Chavan and Mr. Pawar which have inevitably given rise to considerable speculation regarding the future of the present ministry. Put together these developments indicate that none of the three main parties – the Janata, the Congress (I) and the Congress – is likely to be able to seize the initiative for bringing about a significant realignment of political forces in the state.
But it is reasonably clear that the situation in Maharashtra will remain uneasy, specially because the Congress leadership is divided both at the state and Central level and must, therefore, find it difficult to make a clear choice between the Congress (I) and the Janata. Thus while the pro-unity group may well be in a majority in the Congress legislature party in Maharashtra, it cannot disregard the pro-Chavan faction without placing at risk the coalition government. Similarly, the anti-unity group, however distrustful of Mrs. Gandhi, cannot be keen to split the party partly because not many MLAs may follow suit and partly because their rank and file are said to be opposed to cooperation with the Janata which in Maharashtra is dominated by the Brahmins. And so long as the Congress is immobilized, the Janata cannot have much room for manoeuvre. This apparently places the Congress (I) in a relatively more comfortable position. The status quo suits it quite well. For one thing, it gives it a share in power in Bombay which is the financial capital of the country and for another it gives it time to win over former colleagues from the Congress and consolidate its position. But this is a position with which the Janata and the Congress cannot wish to live for long.