Uddhav Thackeray will lead Maha govt: Pawar

Uddhav Thackeray will lead the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Friday, ending days of impasse

Uddhav Thackeray will lead the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Friday, ending days of impasse over government formation since the Maharashtra Assembly election results were announced.

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If the Shiv Sena chief accepts the proposal, he will be the first member of the Thackeray family to lead a government. Thackeray is expected to discuss the plan with his colleagues, although Sena MP Sanjay Raut told the media the Sena chief had accepted the proposal.

Friday saw hectic political activities as Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress were expected to announce the details of power-sharing and the common minimum programme after a meeting with Pawar, Thackeray, senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, KC Venugopal, Mallikarjun Kharge, along with top state leaders of the three parties.

After the meeting, Pawar said the issue of leadership was resolved. “Thackeray is the consensus candidate to lead the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government in Maharashtra. Once everything is finalised, the three parties will meet the Governor to stake claim to form the government,” he told the media.

Stepping out of the meeting, Thackeray, who was flanked by his son Aaditya and Raut, said, “I don’t want to give you half the information. When everything is decided, all three parties will come before you and tell you everything.”

The three parties, however, stopped short of announcing their alliance, as they could not reach a consensus on certain issues, including who would get the Assembly speaker’s post. They are now expected to announce their pact on Saturday, following which they are likely to meet Governor BS Koshyari. Koshyari, who cancelled his visit to Delhi to attend a Governors’ conference, is expected to start the procedure to withdraw President’s rule in the state, if he is satisfied that the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance has the required numbers to form a government in the state.

“We discussed government formation, but the three parties have not reached an agreement on certain issues,” said Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan. “The government architecture will be revealed tomorrow,” he said.

Chief ministership has been a key issue with both the NCP and Congress insisting that Thackeray should take up the top job. Thackeray doesn’t want to get involved in the nitty-gritties of running the government daily and would prefer to nominate a Sena leader. He also said he was considering names of Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai for the post.

“We want Thackeray to be the chief minister because it would mean stability to the government. If he occupies the office, he would have to ensure the government runs for five years, as it would be a matter of pride. Further, decision-making on key issues would be faster as he would be directly responsible for the performance of the government,” said a senior NCP leader.

In the meeting, Thackeray responded to the proposal, saying that he would consult his colleagues before taking a call. Sena group leader in legislature Eknath Shinde said the final decision over the name of the chief minister has not been taken yet. Thackeray then proceeded to Mayor’s bungalow and was expected to take a decision on taking up the top job.

A Sena functionary said, “Uddhav ji is not keen on taking up the post. Instead, he wants to keep his promise of making a Shiv Sainik the CM. He will discuss with key leaders and arrive at a decision. The NCP and Congress have stressed on Uddhavji’s name for the top post.”

Earlier in the day, when Thackeray addressed Sena’s legislators at Matoshree, the lawmakers urged Thackeray to take up the CM post and lead the state. “All MLAs have demanded that Uddhav ji should lead the party in the government,” Pratap Sarnaik, one of the MLAs, said after the meeting. Another MLA Uday Samant said they have given Thackeray the authority to make all decisions regarding government formation and the post of the chief minister in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, both the Congress and NCP are eyeing the post of the Speaker of the Assembly. The Congress is insisting on equal share in the state cabinet, while two parties want the Congress to settle for 11-13 departments. “We have been directed by the central leadership not to compromise on equal share in power. The NCP has the post of chairman in legislative council and should not have an issue in giving us the post of Assembly speaker. The NCP is pointing at our number of MLAs and want us to compromise on fewer berths. We expect 13 berths along with the post of the speaker,” said a senior party leader after the meeting.

The Sena and NCP are expected to get 15 portfolios each, with the CM from Sena and two deputy CMs each from NCP and Congress. Sena, NCP and Congress have finalised on sharing top three portifolios Finance, Home and Revenue, respectively. The parties have also discussed the distribution of the statutory boards and corporations that are under the control of various government departments.

“We are going by the formula of one ministerial berth against four MLAs. Going by that, both the Shiv Sena and NCP are getting 15 berths each. As Shiv Sena is also getting chief ministerial position, its representation in the new ministerial council will be 16. Of them, 11 will be cabinet berths and five berths of minister of state. The NCP will get 11 cabinet berths and four berths of minister of state, while the Congress will get nine cabinet berths and three berths of minister of state, the insiders said,” said a NCP leader.

“This attempt to form the government is an insult of the people’s mandate in the state Assembly elections. Such a government will not be in the benefit of Maharashtra or its people. And, it will also not last for a long time. We are keeping an eye on these developments and will act when the time is right,’’ said BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari.