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Maharashtra: ‘BJP not staking claim,’ Shiv Sena takes dig at ally

‘Without Shiv Sena there will be no government in state, but you (BJP) refuse to honour the commitments. What kind of politics is this. We don”t want to get involved in such kind of muddy politics,’ it said.

Maharashtra: ‘BJP not staking claim,’ Shiv Sena takes dig at ally

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. (Photo: Twitter | @ShivSena)

After Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday evening tendered his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the Shiv Sena on Saturday took a dig at its warring alliance partner, the BJP which has failed to stake claim to form a government in Maharashtra, apparently due to lack of numbers, even a fortnight after the assembly poll verdict.

“In Goa and Manipur, the BJP had shoved away single largest parties and formed governments. It is an open secret that this was done with the active cooperation of governors. But in Maharashtra, despite being the single largest party, the BJP is not staking a claim,” the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece “Saamana”.

The editorial  once again appealed for formation of a government at the earliest.

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The Sena and the BJP are at loggerheads on government formation over the issue of 50:50 partnership. The BJP is not budging over the sharing of Chief Minister’s post for 2.5 years by each party.

The dispute took turn for worse on Friday with caretaker chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray criticising each other on the issue of rotational chief ministership.

Term of the current Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra ends today.

“The state governor can invite the BJP, by virtue of it being the single largest party, to form a government, and the BJP shouldn’t lose such opportunity,” Saamna editorial further said.

“Saamana” also criticised the BJP for claiming that it will form a coalition government with the Sena.

“….What about the decisions taken regarding sharing of power when the alliance was formalised? The BJP continues to say no assurances were given over sharing of power,” the Sena said.

The Sena once again targetted the BJP for “not honouring” the “commitment” over sharing of the Chief Minister’s post and ministerial portfolios.

“Without Shiv Sena there will be no government in state, but you (BJP) refuse to honour the commitments. What kind of politics is this. We don”t want to get involved in such kind of muddy politics,” it said.

Devendra Fadnavis after resigning yesterday further asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) never struck a “50-50” alliance deal with ally Shiv Sena.

He said that there were discussions with Shiv Sena over the 2.5 years CM demand but the talks had broken down and there were no agreements over the issue. Fadnavis also claimed that Sena stopped making contact with the BJP and instead kept talking to the NCP and Congress.

Fadnavis also accused Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray of going back on his words and shocking the people with his 2.5 years CM demand.

He said that there were never any talks of rotational Chief Ministership in his presence and that Shiv Sena has betrayed the mandate by making such demands. He added that Union minister Nitin Gadkari too confirmed the same after having a word with BJP chief Amit Shah.

Fadnavis further reminded its warring ally that even NCP chief Sharad Pawar had called for a BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government in Maharashtra.
However, Thackeray countered Fadnavis, saying such an arrangement was agreed by BJP chief Amit Shah ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In the recent state polls, the BJP won 105 seats, while the Sena got 56, NCP got 54 while Congress won 44 in the 288-member Assembly.

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