Despite having announced that its lone Minister Anant Geete would resign from the Union Cabinet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s return from the United States, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday appeared to be undecided on the issue of withdrawing its support to the BJP-led NDA Cabinet.
A day after he announced that Geete would put in his papers after the PM’s return to the country from the United States, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray gave an inkling of his party’s dilemma on the issue of withdrawing its party’s support to the Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre, following the BJP’s decision to snap its electoral ties with his party.
Talking to media, Uddhav admitted that withdrawing support to the NDA Government was not “easy”, considering that the Sena MPs would have to re-contest lok Sabha polls in the event of his party deciding to withdraw its support to the Modi-led Government at the Centre.
“Joining NDA and then pulling out of the Government is not that easy. All party MPs who have been elected and those who could not win have polled votes cast by the supporters of the Shiv Sena, BJP and other allies. If we decide to pull out of the NDA, then our MPS will have to re-contest the polls,” Uddhav said.
Uddhav said that after consulting the voters in the respective constituencies and holding discussions with the Prime Minister, his party would take a call on withdrawing its support to the NDA Government.
On his part, Geete said that he had not received any instructions from the Sena leadership to resign from the Union Cabinet. “My party has not given me instructions to that effect. That being the case, where does the question of my resignation ariseIJ” Geete asked.
Uddhav’s announcement that Geete would hand over his resignation to the Prime Minister on the latter’s return from the United States had come a day after MNS chief Raj Thackeray had taken a pot shot at him for the delay in pulling out the Sena’s lone minister from the Union Cabinet.
Addressing an election at Kandivli in north Mumbai on Sunday, Raj had told Uddhav: “Despite the BJP having betrayed the Shiv Sena, you have still not withdrawn your minister from the Union Cabinet and you have also not snapped your ties with the BJP in the BMC, just because they are sources of money for you”.
On his part, Uddhav on Monday confirmed his party’s plans to quit the Union Cabinet on Modi’s return. He, however, chose not to say anything on the continuance or otherwise of the Sena’s alliance with the BJP in the BMC.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis has said that his party has not asked the Shiv Sena to withdraw its support to the NDA Government.
“We have never told the Shiv Sena to withdraw its support to the NDA Government at the Centre. The Shiv Sena is an independent party and it is free to take a decision it deems fit. All I would like to stress is that we ( both the parties) have to realise that our fight is against the ruling Congress and NCP.. From its side, the BJP has not withdrawn its support to the Shiv Sena either in the BMC or in any municipal bodies in the State,” Fadnavis said.