In a development being seen in the State political circles as precursor to its formal announcement of support to the BJP-led Government in the State, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and all 63 newly elected MlAs paid a visit to the shrine of Ekvira Devi, the Thackeray family deity, at Karla near the popular hill station of lonavala in Pune district and offered prayers.
Akin to a similar trip to Ekvira Devi shrine undertaken by his late father and Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray along the party’s MlAs after the Sena-BJP alliance Government came to power in 1995, Uddhav and his wife Rashmi performed puja at the temple in the presence of the party’s newly elected MlAs.
Before heading to Ekvira Devi shrine in specially organised buses, Uddhav had taken the party’s newly elected MlAs to the Bal Thackeray’s memorial at Shivaji Park in north-central Mumbai, where they paid homage to the late Sena patriarch.
Addressing a gathering of local people after performing puja at Ekvira Devi shrine, Uddhav said, “It is our tradition to come and pray here and express our gratitude to the Goddess. Today I have come for the darshan with 63 MlAs. Soon, we will come with 180 MlAs with the Devi’s blessings. We want to create a Maharashtra which will be the envy of the world. We want to bring a people’s Government. We will strive for that”.
Talking to mediapersons later, Uddhav’s close aide Anil Desai, who is the part of the Sena team that is negotiating the senior BJP leaders in New Delhi, said, “The talks with the BJP are going on positively. We expect an honourable solution. The party has authorised Uddhavji to take the final decision ( On the issue of joining the BJP-led Government in the State”
Informed sources said that though the BJP and Sena had agreed to adopt a 2:1 ration on the sharing of Ministries, the latter was bargaining hard for the deputy Chief Minister’s post, a post that the single largest party do not give it to its erstwhile saffron ally, but scrap it.
Under the proposed power-sharing formula, the BJP – which plans to go in for a relatively trim 32-member Cabinet instead of a 44-member Ministry that it is entitled to form —has reportedly offered 10 Ministries – including at least three Cabinet ranked ones — to the Shiv Sena, while keeping with at least 20 Ministries with it and giving two Ministries to smaller allies. The BJP, however, is not in favour of giving the DCM’s post to the Sena.
There is the recent history behind of the creation of the deputy Chief Minister’s post. The erstwhile saffron partners had created the deputy Chief Minister’s post when they came to power for the first time in the State in March 1995. During the 1995 Assembly polls, the Sena had won 73 seats, while the BJP bagged 65 seats.
With difference of just eight seats between the two parties, the Shiv Sena had kept the Chief Minister’s post with it and given the newly-created the deputy Chief Minister’s post to the BJP. The DCM’s post had gone to the BJP along with crucial portfolios like home, finance, power, and public works. The DF Government that succeeded the saffron alliance regime in the State adopted the same power sharing formula during the three consecutive terms that the Congress-NCP alliance ruled between 1999 and 2014.
However, this time around, the BJP (with a winning tally of 122 MlAs) – which has won nearly the double the seats won by the Sena (with a tally of 63) – is no mood to part with DCM’s post. If anything, the BJP has made up it mind to scrap the DCM’s post.Another thing that is coming in the way of an early announcement of support by the Shiv Sena is the fact that it wants some plum portfolios like the Home and relatively significant Ministry like Housing and public works department. which has been allocated as an additional portfolio to the BJP’s Chandrakant Patil.
Having been invited to prove its majority on the floor of the State Assembly, the BJP has convened a special three-day Assembly session beginning from November 10.With the death of a newly elected MlA, the BJP has now a strength of 121 in the 28-member Assembly, while it is being supported by its pre-ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha which has one MlA. If the Sena (having 63 MlAs) enters into a post-poll arrangement with its erstwhile saffron ally, the BJP-led front will have a total strength of 185 in the 288-member House.