Ahead of the Sunday’s outcome in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, BJP’s upcoming leader and one of the chief ministerial contenders Pankaja Munde-Palwe has said that her party is open to seeking the erstwhile saffron alliance partner Shiv Sena’s support in forming the next Government in the State, in the event of the party falling short of a simple majority in the 288-member House. However, the Sena remains non-committal on the issue.
Talking to a Marathi television channel in her home town of Parli in Beed district of Marathwada, Pankaja — who is one her party’s core group members in the State — said on Thursday evening: “In the first place, we do not expect that such a situation will arise where we will outside support to form the next Government in the State. This is because our internal surveys as also general survey indicate that we will get a majority of our own. However, if the need arises, we will have to take some other party along. In such an event, why not Shiv SenaIJ.
“From a political point of view, there is nothing wrong in our aligning with the Shiv Sena. If the emerging situation presents us with an option, why that option cannot be the Shiv SenaIJ, Pankaja asked, while admitting that she had not broached the issue with either the Shiv Sena or her own party leaders.
Expressing satisfaction that she contributed her bit to the BJP’s impending victory in the State Assembly polls, Pankaja said: “Even since the polling got over, I am so relieved that we will be ushering in the BJP Government in Maharashtra. Pankaja Munde has contributed her bit in the task of giving the Chief Minister’s post to the BJP. I have no such dream of becoming the Chief Minister myself. I am not after the post nor have I telephoned any of our senior leaders or have I spoken on my own to the media on the issue. That there is a discussion about my name for being a contender for the post in the media is itself a big thing for me”.
Queried specifically if she wanted to become the Chief Minister, 35-year-old Pankaja said: “At this juncture, I am expressionless on this issue. ... It is not that I would not like to become one. I do not want to go after the post. I have done my bit. I am not sure whether such a thing will happen of not. It is not also that whoever among us becomes the CM does not deserve the post. In our party, we have so many deserving candidates for the post. It is difficult for the party leadership to choose one from among us”.
When his attention was drawn to Pankaja’s statement that the BJP was open to seeking its erstwhile saffron alliance partner’s support in the event of her party falling short of numbers to form the next Government in the State, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Friday: “The statement bespeaks of her good feeling for our party. I welcome it. I also thank her for saying so. After all we were together for 25 years. But, at this juncture, no one can predict as to who will get the maximum number of seats in the polls. As far as the Sena is concerned, we will get absolute majority on our own strength and our Chief Minister will be Uddhav Thackeray”.
Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari expressed confidence that BJP would get a majority of its own strength and would not need outside support. “In the internal surveys we carried out after the exit polls, we re-confirmed that we would a majority of our own in the Assembly polls and would not need outside support to form the next Government in the State,” Bhandari told The Pioneer here on Friday evening.