In a clear indication of the return of normalcy within the ruling MahaYuti, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met care-taker chief minister Eknath Shinde at the latter’s official residence on Tuesday evening, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new government scheduled for Thursday.
The meeting between Fadnavis and Shinde lasted for more than an hour. The two leaders are understood to have discussed matters relating to the formation of a new MahaYuti government in Maharashtra.
The import of the crucial meeting is that Shinde has come around to accepting the reality that he would have no other choice but to accept the deputy chief minister’s post under the BJP’s chief minister who will in all likelihood be Devendra Fadnavis. If anything, Shinde will be number two in the new government.
Tuesday’s was the first meeting that took place between Fadnavis and Shinde after the dead-lock arose within the ruling MahaYuti over the chief minister’s post.
The two leaders along with NCP (AP) leader Ajit Pawar had earlier met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda in New Delhi on Thursday to formalise details about the formation of a government in Maharashtra.
Fadnavis, who is the front runner for the chief minister’s post in the state, is understood to have taken the initiative to call on the care-taker chief minister -- both as a move to placate somewhat sulking Shinde and break the ice between them after the strains that surfaced within the MahaYuti in over the chief minister’s post.
Fadnavis, Shinde and Ajit Pawar are likely to meet on Wednesday afternoon or evening, after the election of the BJP’s Legislature Party leader and chief minister-designate scheduled to take place earlier in the morning to discuss the matters relating to the power-sharing in the new government, including the number of ministries to held by each of the three constituents and portfolio allocations.
In a related development, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP on Tuesday demanded that it be given equal number of ministries like that of the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) in the new BJP-headed MahaYuti Cabinet on the basis of its “better strike rate” in the recent Maharashtra Assembly polls.
Since the Maharashtra Assembly comprises 288 members, there can be a maximum of 43 ministers in the State Cabinet -- a number that accounts for 15 percent of total members in the lower House of the State Legislature.
In the normal course, the BJP will get 21 ministerial berths in the 43-member Cabinet, while the Shinde Shiv Sena is entitled for 12 ministries and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP will have to be satisfied with 10 berths.
However, in the ongoing struggle for power-sharing that is going on within the BJP-led MahaYuti ahead of the government formation, the NCP (AP) is demanding 11 ministries instead of ten berths, after carving one ministry from the Shinde Sena’s quota of 12 ministries.
Staking a claim for one more additional ministry in the to-be sworn in MahaYuti Cabinet, senior NCP (AP) leader and former minister Chhagan Bhujbal said: “If you look at the winning strike rate in the MahaYuti, the BJP is number one, the NCP (AP) is number two and the Shinde Sena is number three. Considering that we are a number two party in terms of strike rate, we deserve a better deal. That’s why we are demanding that the NCP (AP) be given equal number of ministries in the new Cabinet”
The “strike rate” that Bhujbal is speaking about refers to the fact that the BJP achieved a strike rate of 88.5 per cent, winning 132 of the 148 seats it contested, while the NCP (AP) registered a strike rate of 69.5 per cent, bagging 41 out of the 59 seats it contested. On the other hand, the Shinde Sena managed a strike rate of 69.13 per cent, by winning 56 seats out of the 81 seats it contested.
Apart from 11 ministries, the NCP (AP) is demanding the post of a Cabinet ranked minister for its national working president Praful Patel and the post of a Governor. The Ajit Pawar-led party is understood to have placed its demands before the BJP’s central leadership.
