In the 62 years of Maharashtra’s existence the State has not seen a political upheaval of the kind that began on June 20 and ended on June 30. It was a high-octane, edge-of-the-seat politicking in those intense 10 days when the politics of revenge and retaliation were in play.

Once the main act was over, with rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s swearing in as Chief Minister and the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as second in command, the rest was a matter of course. Uddhav Thackeray, who had to resign as Chief Minister, tried to hit back by sacking Shinde as a Sena leader, but it was not enough to stop the juggernaut. The BJP achieved what it had set out to do when the Sena ended their partnership in 2019. At that time, Fadnavis had vowed to get the State back. He and his masters at the Centre tried different tactics over the last two and a half years and finally achieved their objective by fomenting rebellion in the Sena.