Senawantsequalpower dealinwritingfromBJP

CM POST AT STAKE Sena MLAs back Aaditya to lead new govt; BJP says talks after Diwali

MUMBAI: TheShivSenacontinued toplayhardballwithallyBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday over their power-sharing agreement to form the next government in Maharashtra. The party demanded written assurance from the BJP leadership that the allies will share power equally, including holding the chiefminister’spostfortwo-anda-half years each.

The BJP, which won 105 seats inthe288-memberMaharashtra Assembly, is 40 short of a clear majority. But the saffron allies together have strength of 161, which includes Sena’s tally of 56 seats.

Sena’s demand from the BJP came after the party’s newly electedmembersofthelegislative assembly(MLAs)mettheirchief UddhavThackerayathisBandra residence,Matoshree,inMumbai on Saturday.

Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who won from Ovala-Majiwada in Thane, said the government formation process will not start unless the BJP gives written assurancetosharetheCM’spost equally. “Uddhavji has said that his discussion with Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis was about equal power sharing, and sharing the chief minister’s post fortwo-and-a-halfyears.Further decision will be taken after the BJPgivesusinwritingaboutthe power-sharing formula,” said

Sarnaik, after attending the meeting.

The MLAs also backed Aaditya Thackeray, who won from the Worli constituency in Mumbai, to become the chief minister inthenextgovernment.Aaditya, Uddhav’s elder son, is the first memberoftheThackerayfamily to contest polls.

“We want to see Aaditya Thackerayasthenextchiefminister. But Uddhavji will take the final decision,” said Sarnaik.

Sena’s Guhagar MLA, BhaskarJadhav,saidwhiletheywant to share the CM’s post, the decision on the party’s candidate for thepositionhasnotbeendecided yet. “All MLAs passed a resolutionandgaveUddhavjithepower to decide the future course of actionintheallianceandgovernment formation,” said Jadhav.

TheBJP,meanwhile,saiddiscussion on government formations and working out other modalities will happen next week, afterDiwali.“Chiefminister Devendra Fadnavis, our national president Amit Shah and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will discuss these issues and find an appropriate solution,”saidKeshavUpadhye, BJP spokesperson.

Multiple Sena MLAs, who did not want to be named, said they have demanded written assurance as the formula decided by Shah and Thackeray before the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year was not honoured by the BJP.

“They contested on the larger chunk (164) of 288 seats in the Assemblypolls,leavingus[Sena] with just 124 seats,” said one of the MLAs. “We should have something in hand to trust them now.ShivSenaisnotdemanding anything more that what was decided by the two party chiefs.”

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his wife, Rashmi, (on left) with the party’s newly elected MLAs, including son Aaditya, at their Bandra residence, Matoshree, on Saturday. PHOTO: RAJESH WARADKAR