Shiv Sena wants deputy speaker post as second largest party in NDA

Arvind Sawant, MP from Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat, is the lone Sena minister in the Modi government.

The Shiv Sena, which has a minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet, said on Thursday it has sought the post of Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri during a press conference after BJP's Victory in Lok Sabha election, Kalanagar, Bandra East in Mumbai. (Photo by Aalok Soni/Hindustan Times)

But later party chief Uddhav Thackeray indicated that he was satisfied with the heavy industry portfolio given to his party, which is the second-largest partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) .

On a visit to Kolhapur along with his 18 Lok Sabha MPs, Thackeray said the Sena’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not for two or three positions in the cabinet but on the issue of Hindutva. Arvind Sawant, MP from Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat, is the lone Sena minister in the Modi government.

The clarification came following reports that the Sena was unhappy at being given just one portfolio of “lesser significance” and that its Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Raut, had said the party had the right to the post of Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker. “This (Deputy Speaker’s post) is not our demand. It’s our right,” Raut had said.

Thackeray, however, watered down the issue after visiting the Mahalaxmi temple along with the new MPs. “To express a desire for something does not mean we are unhappy. The alliance is for various things that both parties stand for,” he said. The Sena chief said the two parties – relations between them were strained in the run-up to the general elections -- had already worked out a seat-sharing formula for the assembly elections. “We have already decided,” he said.