BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the Shiv Sena was not promised the CM's post when the alliance was formalised before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "The Shiv Sena was not promised CM's post for two-and-a-half years when the alliance was formalised before the Lok Sabha polls," Fadnavis told reporters at his official residence 'Varsha' in Mumbai.
Amid the ongoing tussle between the BJP and Sena over sharing of power in the next state government, Fadnavis also asserted that he will be the chief minister for another five years. “BJP will be leading the stable and efficient government of Mahayuti (alliance) for 5 years,” Fadnavis said.
In the recent Maharashtra assembly polls, the BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly and the Shiv Sena bagged 56. With the BJP's tally dipping from 122 in 2014, the Sena is insisting on an equal share in power. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray last week reminded the BJP of the 50:50 formula "agreed upon" between himself, BJP president Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Fadnavis, however, asserted that no such agreement was reached. “Our party president [Amit Shah] has confirmed nothing has been decided on CM post to Shiv Sena,” he said.
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In a scathing attack on the BJP, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, when asked about the delay to form government despite its pre-poll alliance with the BJP, told ANI: "There is no Dushyant (Chautala) here whose father is in jail. Here it's us who do politics of 'dharma and satya' (ethics and truth) Sharad (Pawar) who created an environment against BJP and the Congress who will never go with BJP." In Haryana, the BJP has struck an alliance with Dushyant Chautala’s Jananayak Janata Party (JJP) to form a government.
He added: "If someone wants to keep us away from power, then it is an honour for us. A decision will be taken soon. We are currently observing that to what lows people can resort to. As decided before the Lok Sabha elections, our only demand is that things should work according to what has been decided earlier."
Fadnavis said the BJP Legislature Party will elect its new leader on Wednesday. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already announced the name and the meeting will be a formality," he said, apparently referring to Modi's statement during campaigning for polls that Fadnavis will lead the coalition.
