The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has offered rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde the same deal it offered Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Ajit Pawar in 2019 – the post of deputy chief minister – if he and his fellow dissenters bring about a change in the Maharashtra government, a senior party leader aware of the discussions said on Wednesday.
The deal involves similar number of ministerial berths on offer as it was in 2019, when, after a fractured election mandate, former BJP chief minister Devendra Fadnavis made an attempt to ally with then NCP rebel Ajit Pawar to form a government that lasted 80 hours.
“Shinde’s revolt now is similar to Ajit Pawar’s revolt in 2019. Pawar had taken the oath as deputy chief minister and was assured a sizable number of ministerial berths. The Shinde group is expected to get a maximum of 12 berths, similar to what the Shiv Sena was given during Fadnavis government until 2019,” the BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.
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“Shiv Sena, which had 63 members in the lower house then, was given just five berths of ministers and seven of minister of state level after tight negotiations for days. The Shinde group may not be more than 45 members in size and thus, is unlikely to get more than what Sena got in 2014,” this person added.
{{/usCountry}}“Shiv Sena, which had 63 members in the lower house then, was given just five berths of ministers and seven of minister of state level after tight negotiations for days. The Shinde group may not be more than 45 members in size and thus, is unlikely to get more than what Sena got in 2014,” this person added.
{{/usCountry}}In 2019, Ajit Pawar failed to engineer enough defections to beat the anti-defection law after taking oath, eventually returning to the party.
A senior Sena leader, who asked not to be named, said that barring a couple of berths such as revenue, public works department and urban development, the Shinde group is unlikely to get key portfolios if a new government is formed. In the last alliance with the BJP, “even after hard negotiations, the BJP did not budge. This time too, Shinde group would not get the more than 25% share in the 43-member cabinet,” he added.
Beside Shinde, around 10 MLAs could be inducted in the cabinet, the Sena leader said.
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The BJP leader quoted above added: “There are six incumbent ministers in the group supporting Shinde. Most of them are likely to be retained in the new cabinet. Some others may be accommodated on the statutory boards and corporations just to retain them for the remaining term of 29 months.”
Giving any more, this person added, could lead to unrest among BJP’s 106 MLAs, some of whom have been waiting for the opportunity to be a part of the government after switching sides from other parties.
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The lobbying appeared to have already begun with several BJP leaders reaching the official residence of leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis. Many senior party leaders and former ministers met Fadnavis, pitching themselves for cabinet berths and for appointment on boards/corporations, a person aware of the matter said.
To be sure, the BJP has maintained that it has no role to play in the Sena revolt, and is just watching events unfold in Maharashtra, even as the action has moved over the past two days to Gujarat and Assam, two states ruled by the party.