With the Union Cabinet set for expansion, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems inclined to include one more Minister from the Shiv Sena.
“We have received a call from the Prime Minister’s Office asking to suggest a Sena MP’s name to be included in the Cabinet expansion,” said a senior Sena leader.
At the moment, Anant Geete, Minister for Heavy Industries, is the sole representative of the Sena in the Union Cabinet. This could soften the Sena’s stand towards the BJP government which faces a trust vote next week in the Maharashtra Assembly.
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Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday held a meeting with senior party leaders to discuss the situation. The party will again meet on November 9 to choose its leader in the Assembly.
The Assembly session will begin from November 10 and the BJP will have to prove its majority on November 12. The BJP has 122 MLAs and needs 22 more to win the confidence motion. While the Sena has 63 MLAs, Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party with 41 members has already announced unconditional and outside support to the BJP. The BJP is yet to decide on the NCP’s offer as a number of its leaders are facing allegations of corruption.