Eknath Shinde, the rebel backed up by 40 other MLAs, has put Uddhav Thackeray-led government in crisis in Maharashtra. However, it is not the first time a rebel has overthrown a government. The same political activities led to the Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh governments’ downfalls.
After the demise of one MLA, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly now has 287 seats. The MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) has 153 seats that consist of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs, 23 NCP MLAs, and 44 Congress MLAs. But, if Shinde decides a merge with BJP, Maharashtra will notice a power shift.
BJP: Hub Of Rebels
Patterns show that the first choice of political rebels is BJP. Association for Democratic Reforms statistics show that 405 MLAs left their respective parties in the last five years. The March 2021 report from ADR also states that between 2016-20, 182 out of 405 MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The report also says that 38 MLAs joined Congress, 25 joined Telangana National Committee, and 16 MLAs joined TMC. There were 16 MLAs from the National People’s Party, 14 from JD (U), and 11 from BSP and TDP.
However, it is not Shiv Sena that faces the blows of the rebel. The highest number of politician rebels are born in the Indian National Congress. In the last five years, 170 leaders left INC. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that Shinde is the first leader in five years to leave the party.
Each party has received its share of political rebels. Here are the numbers.
BJP-182
Congress-38
TRS-25
TMC-16
NPP-16
JDU – 14
BSP-11
TDP-11
NDPP-10
Shiv Sena-9
Others- 73
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