There seems to be no let up in the power struggle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, but recent reports claim that Devendra Fadnavis will take oath as the chief minister by Friday. “Fadnavis will take oath as CM on October 31 or November 1 and we are hopeful the Sena will join the government,” Times of India quoted a party source as saying. The BJP and the Sena, which won 105 and 56 seats in the just concluded state Assembly polls, are locked in a bitter battle over sharing of power.
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Playing hardball, the Shiv Sena had demanded a written assurance from its NDA ally that it will implement the formula for equal sharing of power, and said that it will otherwise explore other options. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan had said that his party will "consider" any "concrete" proposal on government formation in Maharashtra from the Shiv Sena, which is widely seen as a move to muddy the alliance waters.
Ever since the results of the October 21 assembly polls were out, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has been claiming that the 50:50 formula on sharing of power was "agreed upon" between himself, Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The formula entails rotational chief ministership between the two parties. The Sena has been projecting Aaditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav and a first-time MLA, as the party's face for the CM's post.
However, Fadnavis on Tuesday denied the Sena was ever assured the post of the CM for 2.6 years as part of the power sharing "formula". “There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that it will be a BJP-led government for the next five years,” Fadnavis himself told mediapersons, reported Times of India.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had earlier hit out at Fadnavis for claiming the party mouthpiece Saamana, of which the former is executive editor, was trying to derail talks on formation of the next government. Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Fadnavis expressed resentment over editorials against the BJP.
On Friday morning, the editorial of Saamana declared the electoral verdict was a “rap on the knuckles” to those who were high on “arrogance of power”. Saamana claimed the mandate had rejected the notion that elections can be swept by engineering defections and splitting opposition parties. Over 30 leaders of the NCP and Congress had crossed over to the BJP and Shiv Sena before the Assembly polls.
"The paper's role is to derail the talks. Will the paper take a hard stand on the Congress-NCP?" the CM had asked. Hitting back, Raut said, "Saamana wrote against the Congress-NCP and that is why the BJP-led govt came to power in 2014. I am putting forth the Shiv Sena's stand," Raut said. He added, "My party is not asking for anything wrong. Only implementation of what was decided before the elections [equal power sharing formula]. There is no need for Fadnavis to bare his fangs while making such statements."
