Battle lines were virtually drawn between the BJP and Opposition parties ahead of Wednesday’s vote of confidence, as the NCP reiterated its outside support to the new ruling party in Maharashtra and the Shiv Sena staked claim for the post of leader of Opposition (loP) on the first day of a three-day Special Session of the State Assembly here on Monday.
With its relationship with the BJP having broken down irretrievably, the Shiv Sena — not wanting to lose out the loP’s post to the Congress in the most likely event of the party deciding not to join the BJP-led Government in the State — formally staked a claim for the post, by submitting a letter, written to that effect by its president Uddhav Thackeray, to Principal Secretary to the State legislature Anant Namdeorao Kalse.
Sena’s move to stake a claim for the loP’s post came within a couple of hours after the Congress staked a similar claim. Sena’s predicament was aptly explained by party president Uddhav Thackeray who said: “If we have staked claim to loP’s post, it is because we do not want to lose the post to the Congress and land ourselves in a na ghar ka, na ghat ka (neither here nor there) situation... We are prepared for talks with the BJP if it chooses to do so. If talks materialise, it is okay. If they do not, we have already taken a stand that we are prepared to sit in the Opposition”.
Though Uddhav has kept a window open for talks with its erstwhile saffron ally, it is unlikely that the BJP will initiate power-sharing negotiations with the Sena ahead of the confidence vote scheduled for Wednesday.
The BJP’s lack of interest in taking the Sena on board at this stage should be seen in the light of the fact that the NCP has extended unsolicited and unconditional “outside” support to it.
The BJP’s confidence of winning the confidence vote in the Assembly on Wednesday stems from the fact that it has strength of 122 MlAs (which includes an MlA belonging to its pre-poll ally) in a House with an effective total strength of 287 members.
Though it needs another 22 MlAs to touch the simple majority of 144, it is confident of sailing through the floor test owing the “outside” support of the NCP. On his part, senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse has gone on record saying that his party would not be averse to accepting the NCP’s “unsolicited” support.
Reiterating his party’s “outside” support to the BJP-led Government in the State, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that his party had decided to extend its support to the Devendra Fadnavis dispensation so as to ensure its stability. “If we have decided to extend our outside support to this Government, it is because we do not want this Government to fall for lack of numbers. We are merely providing stability to the BJP Government. Because we would like to avoid fresh elections at this stage,” he added.
Maintaining that the NCP’s decision to support the “minority” Government was both “conscious and collective” one and not part of a “hidden deal” with BJP, Pawar said: “We have not discussed our decision with anyone. It was a conscious and collective decision in the larger interest of the State. Nobody asked us for our support. The BJP is free to not accept our support.”
Talking to the media here, Pawar vehemently denied that his party had entered into a “hidden deal” with the BJP to avoid investigations into various scams allegedly indulged in by its leaders. “The Government is free to investigate all the charges and allegations against NCP leaders so the truth can come out. If its decisions or Bills are not people oriented, we will not support the Government,” Pawar said.
Replying to a question, the NCP chief said that his party would not do anything that destabilise the BJP-led Government. “But, at the same time, we would play the role of an effective Opposition in the House,” he said.
Queried if he would extend its support directly to the BJP during the trust or extend its indirect support by absenting itself from the voting, Pawar said: “We will decide on the nature of support that we will extend to the BJP based on the situation prevailing on the day of confidence vote”.
Other than its own strength of 122, the BJP has already mustered outside support of anywhere from 14 to 16 MlAs - mostly independents and those belonging to smaller parties.
If the NCP extends direct support to it, then the BJP will have strength of 175 plus MlAs at the time of floor test. However, if the NCP (which has 41 MlAs) abstains from voting, the total strength of the 288-member Assembly will come down to 247. In such a situation, the BJP will need a strength of 124 MlAs to prove its majority in the House - a number that the BJP has already in its itty.