BackOpposition benches for Shiv Sena as BJP talks hit wall in Maharashtra
Move to pre-empt Congress from staking claim to post, says party
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Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday staked its claim to the post of leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra assembly, marking a bizarre switch for a party that is apparently also negotiating to form an alliance government in the state.
The party claimed its move was aimed at pre-empting any attempt by the Congress party to stake a claim to the LoP post. It was, however, also an attempt to mount pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make it clear whether or not it will take the support of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form a government.
On Monday, the first day of a special session of the newly elected Maharashtra assembly, Sena group leader Eknath Shinde gave a letter to the principal secretary of the state legislature staking his party’s claim to the status of leader of opposition. The Congress also submitted its claim for the LoP post.
Just as it appeared that the suspense over the Sena’s stand on supporting a BJP-led government had finally ended, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray told party workers in a meeting: “We are still open for negotiations with BJP and we staked the claimed just to pre-empt Congress claim for the post of leader of opposition."
At the same time, Neelam Gorhe, a Sena spokesperson, said, “In politics, the doors of dialogue and discussion are never closed; but that doesn’t mean we have decided to have an alliance."
The BJP’s Maharashtra unit spokesman Madhav Bhandari said, “There seems to be confusion within Sena about what to do next and we have already said we will prefer to go with Sena and now Sena has to decide what it wants to do."
“We don’t think there is any further need to clarify our stand on issue of support from NCP. We have already said we had not asked for NCP’s support and when we staked our claim to form the government, it was not on the basis of NCP’s support," he added.
The BJP has 122 members in the Maharashtra assembly after one of its newly elected legislators died before taking oath, leaving the party needing the support of 23 members to form a government. The NCP which has 41 members has already declared its unilateral support to a BJP-led government.
But the Sena, a long-term former BJP ally which has 63 members, is yet to decide whether to support a BJP-led government as it negotiates ministerial berths for its leaders.
During the special session of the assembly on Monday and Tuesday, the newly elected legislators are expected take their oaths. Besides this, the parties have to file nomination papers for the post of Speaker by Tuesday evening.
If the Sena files nomination papers for the post of Speaker, it will become clear that it has decided to support a BJP-led government.
On Wednesday, besides the election of the Speaker, the Devendra Fadnavis government will have to seek a vote of confidence in the assembly.
Meanwhile, NCP president Sharad Pawar mocked Sena president Thackeray on Monday, saying, “We are an independent party and no one can tell us whom to support or not, and even if BJP says no to our support, BJP can’t take away the freedom of our legislators to vote in their favour."
However, Pawar, too, kept the BJP guessing, saying: “Our support is not unconditional. If we feel the BJP government is taking some anti-people decisions, then we will oppose them and, if needed, we will vote against BJP on the floor of House."
He added, “Our decision to support a BJP-led government is to ensure people of Maharashtra get a stable government and it has nothing to do with so-called charges of corruption against NCP ministers in the previous government. In fact, we will welcome if the government decides to conduct an inquiry into these allegations of corruption as we are eager about the truth coming out in public domain."
“You (media) will come to know whether we decide to vote in favour of BJP government or abstain during voting on the trust motion on Wednesday. We will take a decision as per the situation," Pawar said.
Prakash Akolkar, political editor of the Marathi newspaper Sakal, said, “Just like in cricket, in politics, too, timing is of utmost important and by remaining undecided Thackeray is losing his credibility. Had he announced Sena’s unilateral support to BJP or even decided to sit in opposition on the day results were announced, he would have emerged as a strong and decisive leader."
But Thackeray allowed Pawar to announce NCP’s unilateral support to BJP and, thus, lost the initiative, he added.
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