The Shiv Sena will join the BJP government in Maharashtra at its first cabinet expansion on Friday. Twelve Sena MLAs will be inducted as ministers — five cabinet and seven Ministers of State.
After parting ways just before the Assembly elections following differences over seat-sharing, the BJP and Sena have made peace and are set to form an alliance government. The last time the two parties had an alliance government in Maharashtra was in 1995 but the Chief Minister then, Manohar Joshi, belonged to the Sena.
After a month of squabbling over the parameters of inclusion, the Sena, in a major climb down agreed to come on board without being granted it the posts of Deputy CM and home ministry. The names and portfolios of the Sena ministers will be finalised tonight.
The BJP will also induct up to 10 of its own MLAs as ministers at the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. Out of the 12 Sena MLAs, 10 are expected to take oath on Friday. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the smaller allies of the BJP would also be inducted into the government but at a later stage, possibly in the second cabinet expansion expected in February.
After its first re-shuffle, Mr. Fadnavis’ cabinet will expand to 32-34 ministers. At present, it has 8 cabinet and two MoS.
Announcing the formation of a ‘Mahayuti’ government, at a joint-press conference, Mr. Fadnavis, who was flanked by senior Sena leaders, said the two parties have decided to run the government together keeping in view the mandate of the people. “To honour the sentiment of the people who want to see the Sena and BJP work together for Maharashtra, we will come together as an alliance. The priority of both the parties is the development of Maharashtra,” Mr. Fadnavis said. The Chief Minister also clarified that there would be no deputy CM post in his government.
Though the two parties after failing to agree on seat-sharing chose to contest the assembly polls separately, the ties never broke completely.
Sena's representative in the Modi cabinet, Anant Geete, stayed on and the two parties continued to run the cash rich Mumbai civic body and several other municipalities in the state.
The bargaining strength of the Sena dwindled substantially after the NCP, which has 41 members in an Assembly of 288, extended unsolicited and unconditional support to the BJP government which was short of 23 members for a simple majority.
With the Sena on board, the CM can breathe easy as he faces the winter session of the Assembly beginning on December 8 at Nagpur.
The alliance will extend to the local civic and panchayat bodies as well, Mr. Fadnavis said. With a combined strength of 185 MLAs, (BJP 122 and Sena 63), the government looks stable and will no longer require the “outside” support of the NCP.
