The deadline for government formation is still two weeks away in Maharashtra, but hectic parleys have begun in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena camps over who will be the next Chief Minister.
A day after the alliance regained control of the State by winning 160 seats, leaders of both parties staked claim to the post.
Congratulatory posters sprang up in Worli projecting Aaditya Thackeray as the “future Chief Minister”. Later in the day, the Shiv Sena leaders met party president Uddhav Thackeray to present a demand on the same lines, senior leaders said.
Among several other posters, the one indicating Mr. Aaditya as the would-be CM came up in the constituency which he had won by defeating Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s Suresh Mane by nearly 70,000 votes. BJP leaders said they too were sure Devendra Fadnavis would continue as Chief Minister for the second straight term.
Senior Sena leaders pointed out the party was in a commanding position to bargain better berths in the Cabinet with ally BJP. Party leader Sanjay Raut tweeted a cartoon depicting a tiger (Sena) with a clock (NCP) around its neck and sniffing a lotus (BJP). The Sena mouthpiece Saamana also took a dig at the BJP by saying that while Mr. Fadnavis had claimed NCP supremo Sharad Pawar was a failed wrestler, he proved to be more powerful proving that “Maharashtra does not accept arrogance of power.”
“The sentiment of the worker is that Aadityaji should become the Chief Minister. We are holding a meeting with Uddhavji to present our demand but it is up to him to take a final call on it. We will abide by what Uddhavji, Amit Shah ji and Devendra Fadnavis ji have decided,” said two-time Shiv Sena MLA and senior party leader Pratap Sarnaik.
Mr. Fadnavis has already said the final decision on the chief ministerial berth would be taken as per the 50:50 formula decided prior to the polls and as revised in the upcoming meeting of the party board.
“I cannot comment if the meeting (of the parliamentary board) would happen before or after Deepavali. But I have spoken to Mr. Thackeray and we both are aware of the terms of reference of the alliance and who would become the next chief minister,” the BJP leader said.
takes a dig at BJP, says there was no maha janadeshSena leaders said junior Thackeray was ready for the top job. “Aadityaji has travelled across the State and he has raised issues related to people for many years now. He is ready for the job and you will see he will emerge as the number one politician from the State,” said Mr. Sarnaik.
The Shiv Sena has said the party is proud Thackeray junior was coming forward and the party will not accept anything odd for the sake of retaining power. “I am not power hungry. The seats we have lost, I regret it but we are again reminding the BJP of what was decided. We will introspect for mistakes,” the Sena chief said.
