Shiv Sena criticises Shah over remark denying offer to share Maharashtra CM post

The Sena walked out of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party after the 2019 polls following disagreements over their power-sharing agreement

The Shiv Sena has criticised Union home minister Amit Shah for his remarks that there was no talk behind closed doors about sharing the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra after the 2019 assembly elections. In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna, the Shiv Sena called it a misleading claim and added Shah should instead concentrate on matters like the Uttarakhand flash floods and the farmers’ agitation against three farm laws passed in September.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah. (PTI)

The Sena walked out of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the 2019 polls following disagreements over their power-sharing agreement. It later formed the government in the state with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The editorial cited Shah’s remark that he does everything in broad daylight. It added even the Sena believed in the same philosophy. “The Shiv Sena openly joined hands with the NCP and the Congress... how come did [BJP leader] Devendra Fadnavis secretly take an oath [in November 2019] when the party believed in doing things in the broad daylight?” the editorial asked.

Fadnavis resigned three days after taking oath as the chief minister for the second time. He had formed a government with the support of a splinter group of the NCP’s Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as his deputy. Both of them resigned a day before a trust vote ordered by the Supreme Court as they could not muster up the numbers. Ajit Pawar has since returned to NCP.

The editorial alleged all attempts were being made to topple the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra and criticised Shah for saying the BJP would have finished the Sena. It added those who wished the end of the Sena vanished from the political scene.

Shah on Sunday rejected reports that he had promised to share the chief minister’s post. “They [Sena] said I had promised this in a closed-door meeting... I never do anything behind [closed] doors. Everything is done in daylight,” said Shah. He questioned chief minister Uddhav Thackery for his silence over the matter during the campaigns when it was said that Fadnavis would occupy the top post.

The BJP has asked the Shiv Sena to introspect instead of blaming Shah. “The Shiv Sena fought the elections in alliance with us and then went and formed government with Congress and NCP which they had attacked before. They need to introspect instead of blaming us,” said BJP spokesperson Bhalchandra Shirsat. “Amit Shah is the Union home minister who is doing a great job and he has all the right to clarify how the Sena has backstabbed us,” he added.