Shiv Sena sticks to 50:50 demand; all eyes on Guv as CM, Sena leader call on him separately
Amid a tussle between the saffron alliance partners over the sharing of power in the impending new Government in Maharashtra, the belligerent Shiv Sena on Monday invoked the famous dialogue “Itna sannata kyun hai bhai (why is there so much silence?)” from the iconic 1975 film “Sholay” to mock at the ruling BJP at the Centre over the economic slowdown in the country.
The Shiv Sena fired a fresh salvo at the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre on a day when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote of the Sena met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari separately at Raj Bhavan here, ostensibly to offer Diwali greetings to the latter.
In a stinging editorial published in its official mouth-piece “Saamana”, the Shiv Sena said, “The sales in the markets have dropped by 30 to 40 per cent. Instead of bringing a relief, the economic disaster caused by the demonetisation and GST is becoming alarming day by day. Industries are suffering and manufacturing units have closed down, leading to joblessness… There is dead silence in the markets.”
“Similarly, in the Assembly polls held in the run-up to the Diwali, normal fanfare was missing. Instead, there was dead silence. With the interest of better future of the country and the State in mind, people at levels are wondering as to why there is so much of silence in our midst and are asking: ‘Itna sannata kyun hai bhai’,” the editorial said.
With no let up in the fireworks from the Shiv Sena, which is demanding 50:50 power sharing arrangement in the new Government, focus turned to Raj Bhavan as Fadnavis of the BJP and Raote of the Shiv Sena met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari separately here on Monday.
While Raote of the Shiv Sena called on the Governor first, Fadnavis met Koshyari an hour later. Both were pre-scheduled meetings.
More than Raote’s meeting with the Governor, it was Fadnavis’ meeting with Koshyari that assumed considerable political importance. It was Fadnavis’ first meeting with the Governor after ruling BJP and Shiv Sena collectively won 161 seats out of a total 288 seats in the Assembly polls.
Fadnavis spent 20 minutes interacting with the Governor. Though his associates said the CM paid a “courtesy call” on the Governor on the occasion of Diwali, the CM is understood to have briefed the Governor about the post-poll situation in the State.
However, sources close to Raote said that his meeting with the Governor had nothing to do with the Government formation in the State. “I have been calling on the Governors of the time to greet them every year on the occasion of Diwali ever since I became a Mayor of Mumbai way back in 1991. It was no different today,” a senior leader close to Raote quoted him as saying.
Fadnavis’ meeting with Governor comes ahead of the BJP Legislature Party to be held at the Vidhan Bhavan on October 30. At the BJPLP meeting, Fadnavis is expected be elected as the legislature party leader.
In the normal course, BJP national president Amit Shah was scheduled to attend the BJP Legislature Party meeting on Wednesday. He is also likely to meet Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on the evening of October 30 in a bid to sort out the issues between the two parties over the sharing of power in the new Government. However, the BJP leadership sent out a clear-cut message to the Shiv Sena that Shah has no plans to meet Uddhav till such time that the Sena does not stop vehement criticism of the BJP through the columns of “Saamana”.
It is another matter if Uddhav will at all meet Shah in the absence of a written undertaking on 50:50 demanded by the Shiv Sena. Informed sources said that the BJP would not give such an undertaking - which includes an agreement on the sharing of the chief minister’s post for a period of two and a half years each.
Given that the term of the outgoing Maharashtra Assembly is likely to end on November 9, the Shiv Sena may try to stretch matters till the early part of the second week of November.
Uddhav may not have already kept ready the Plan-B --- of going with the Congress and the NCP to form a new Government in the State, but he has definitely sent out covert feelers to the Congress and the NCP about seeking their support in the event of breakdown of talks with the BJP. Even in the absence of any assurance of support from the Congress and the NCP, the Sena president will definitely use the threat of Plan-B as a bargaining chip with the BJP to have its pound of flesh in the power-sharing negotiations.
It remains to be seen if the Governor will seek letters of support from the Shiv Sena and its allies to ascertain for himself that Fadnavis has the numbers on his side, before letting Fadnavis to be sworn as the Chief Minister. Or will the Governor swear Fadnavis in as the CM on the premise that the latter enjoys the Shiv Sena’s support and ask him to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly? Or will Fadnavis stake a claim to form the government without seeking letters of support from the Shiv Sena and other allies?
Given the Shiv Sena’s stubbornness on matters relating to the power sharing with the BJP in the new Government, it has become certain that the power tussle being witnessed in Maharashtra will go to the wire.
