Sena blows hot & cold
BJP legislative party leader; patch-up on cards
After the BJP elected Devendra Fadnavis as the leader of its legislature party, the Shiv Sena has hinted it may compromise on its demand for the chief minister's post.
The BJP has agreed to offer its ally the deputy CM's post and 16 ministerial berths; with that, it is almost certain that the new BJP-Sena government will be sworn in on November 3 or 4.
The Sena, which had been stridently asking for the CM's post for 2.5 years, suddenly did a climb down once the BJP took a firm stand on the leadership issue.
The BJP legislature met on Wednesday and elected Devendra Fadnavis as its leader. But it stopped short of announcing Fadanvis as the next CM. "The mahayuti (the grand alliance of BJP, Sena and other parties) will form the next government, which will be strong," said the BJP's press statement. It seems that the backdoor channel talks between the BJP and the Sena have persuaded the latter to drop its demand for the post of CM. Realising the coalition compulsions, the Sena is in a mood to compromise. This was clearly hinted at by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. "We are ready to understand the situation. It is in the interest of Maharashtra that the BJP and the Sena should stay with each other. The state will have a stable government, provided that all that has been decided between the BJP and the Sena is implemented," Raut said, softening his stand. There was not a mention about the post of CM.
Even Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, in an informal chat with journalists, had hinted that the Sena would not stress too much on the CM's post. "We will try to get the maximum we can get," he said.
Face-saver for Sena: It is learnt that, in a face-saver, the BJP agreed to give the deputy chief minister post to the Shiv Sena. The Sena has called a meeting of legislators on Thursday, to elect its leader. This leader may be the next deputy chief minister.
As per sources, Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde are the frontrunners for this post. Desai is a close and trusted Thackeray loyalist and this gives him an edge over Shinde. However, the elected legislators are opposed to electing Desai as their leader; he is virtually inaccessible to them. Desai had reportedly played a key role in seat-sharing talks and other negotiations. He is one of the senior-most leaders of the Sena, having worked with the party founder Bal Thackeray.
The BJP is reportedly ready to share the revenue and finance departments with the Sena. It has also agreed to give agriculture to Sena and also offered it a choice between food and drug administration and civil supplies. It has however, rejected the Sena's demand for home and the urban development departments.
As per the 91st constitutional amendment, Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 persons in its council of ministers. Though the Sena was insistent on 50 per cent of the berths, the BJP is hinting it may not give them more than 5 per cent. "The Sena will have 16-17 ministers," a senior BJP leader said. The outgoing Fadnavis government already has 13 Sena ministers, including six cabinet ministers and seven ministers of state. In the outgoing government, the Sena holds industry, transport, environment, public health, public works(public enterprises), employment guarantee and horticulture and water conservation portfolios.