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Shiv Sena leader’s 5-minute meeting with Guv sparks off buzz. He clarifies
The BJP-Sena combine, which won a clear majority in the just-concluded state elections, have not made a formal pitch to the governor to form the next government.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s two meetings on Monday morning, one with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the second, with Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote, fuelled the buzz around the ongoing tug-of-war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena over government formation.
The BJP-Sena combine, which won a clear majority in the just-concluded state elections, have not made a formal pitch to the governor to form the next government. The Sena has insisted that the two allies revert to the 50-50 power sharing agreement that the two party bosses had agreed to in February this year.
Sena leader Diwakar Raote was the first to meet Governor Koshyari at 10.30 am. The one-on-one meeting lasted just about five minutes.
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Emerging from Raj Bhavan, Raote insisted they didn’t discuss politics or government formation. “I have been meeting the Governor in since 1993 to wish him…. We did not hold a discussion regarding any political issue,” Raote said, adding that the governor had given him a 10.30 am appointment due to engagements later in the day.
Fadnavis drove into Raj Bhavan nearly 30 minutes later. His meeting went on for much longer. The chief minister did wish Koshyari on the occasion of Diwali before the conversation veered around government formation. In a tweet, Fadnavis said he had also “apprised him on the current (political) scenario”.
The two alliance partners are in the middle of a race to get the support of MLAs from smaller parties and independents to bolster their numbers that the two parties believe would help them get a better deal when the power-sharing formula is worked out.
The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly election results announced last week; the Shiv Sena 56 seats.
The Sena, which contested on fewer seats than the BJP in the state elections, wants the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ party to give a written assurance that the allies will share power equally, including holding the position of chief minister for two-and-a-half years each.
The BJP leadership hasn’t formally responded to this format. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India (A) that is part of the ruling NDA, however, said the BJP won’t agree to a rotational chief minister. “But the position of deputy chief minister can be given to Shiv Sena for 5 years. I think Shiv Sena should accept the deputy chief minister’s post for Aaditya Thackeray with Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister,” he said, according to news agency ANI.
