With government formation in Maharashtra stuck in limbo five days after the results of Assembly polls were declared, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis refused Shiv Sena's demand for a 50:50 share of power and said no rotational formula for the chief ministerial post was agreed upon when the alliance was formalised.
Amid the ongoing tussle over sharing of power in the next state government, Fadnavis also asserted that he will be the chief minister for another five years.
"There is no doubt in my mind that I will be the chief minister for five years. There is no plan B or C. There is only plan A, and that will work," he said, responding to the Sena's hard bargaining.
File image of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. PTI
Amid the ongoing feud between the allies, the Sena, through its mouthpiece Saamana, has launched strident attacks against the BJP.
A Saamana editorial titled "Don’t be overzealous, Don’t be arrogant" has said that the election results showed that parties cannot win polls just by engineering defections and splitting the Opposition.
The editorial further pointed out that the combined forces of the two parties ensured a win for the alliance and the victory was not achieved by the BJP alone.
Commenting on the continuing attacks by the Sena in Saamana, Fadnavis hit back saying, "The Saamana's role is to derail talks. The Shiv Sena might want the chief minister's post for five years. But wanting something and getting something are two different things."
Shiv Sena strikes back
After Fadnavis broke his silence on the ongoing power tussle, Sena leader Sanjay Raut responded saying that the Maharashtra chief minister was "wrong" when he denied about 50-50 formula.
"Fadnavis is wrong when he says there was no agreement on 50-50. We are not those people who run after power, but the 50-50 agreement was done between both the parties in front of the media," Raut said.
"Uddhav Thackeray ji has said we have other options too, but we don't want to do the sin of accepting that alternative...the Shiv Sena has practiced politics of truth. The party is not hungry for power," Raut told reporters in Mumbai.
When asked about the delay in government formation in Maharashtra despite the BJP-Sena alliance, he said, "There is no Dushyant Chautala in Maharashtra whose father is in jail."
He was making a reference to Haryana's deputy chief minister and Jannayak Janta Party chief Dushyant Chautala.
Raut on Monday said his party should not be compelled to look for an alternative to form the next government and asserted there are "no saints in politics".
On 24 October, the BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member Assembly and the Shiv Sena won 56 seats. With the BJP's tally dipping from 122 in 2014 polls and its dependence higher for a majority, the Sena has been adamant about an equal share in power.
Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah endorsing Fadnavis in their poll rallies, it is widely believed that Sena's insistence on 50:50 formula is because it wants to pitch Uddhav's son Aaditya Thackeray to do a half-stint as chief minister.
With inputs from agencies
October 29, 2019 at 04:08PM
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