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CM from BJP with a Shiv Sena deputy — the 1995 formula that can solve Maharashtra standoff

In 1995, the CM’s post was held by Shiv Sena while BJP, then the junior ally, settled for the deputy CM’s position.

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New Delhi: The Shiv Sena is likely to settle for the deputy chief minister’s post and some plum portfolios such as finance and home in Maharashtra, two party leaders have told ThePrint, suggesting that its demand for the chief minister’s post on a rotational basis is only a bargaining tactic. 

According to the Shiv Sena leaders, the party is likely to settle for the 1995 formula where the CM’s post (Manohar Joshi) was held by the Shiv Sena and the BJP, a junior ally, settled for the deputy CM position (Gopinath Munde).

The Sena is the junior ally this time and contested 124 of the state’s 288 assembly seats. The BJP, meanwhile, contested 150, with the rest of the seats going to smaller allies. 

While the Sena has won 56 seats, the BJP has secured 105, and the two parties have been locked in a tug-of-war since results day last week over the exact nature of their coalition government. 

The two parties Monday met the Maharashtra governor separately. 

“We have demanded the post of the CM on a rotation basis. We are waiting to hear from the BJP. There are a number of issues that we need to resolve before we stake claim to form the government,” one of the two Shiv Sena leaders said. 

“Just like 1995, there is a possibility that the leadership will agree to the deputy CM post and plum portfolios like home, finance, revenue, PWD.” 

The party is quite confident that it will get a greater say in negotiations after its performance and is also likely to demand more cabinet berths at the Centre, the second leader said.

As of now, allies of the NDA have all been given one Cabinet berth in the Modi government.


Also read: How Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena made Devendra Fadnavis’ life a Vijay Tendulkar play


Leaders in touch

The Sena, which was the coalition’s senior partner in Maharashtra until now, had been demanding power parity between the two parties in the run-up to the elections. 

But BJP president Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis prevailed upon the Shiv Sena and secured a bigger share of seats for the party.

However, with the BJP tally going down in Haryana (from 47 in 2014 to 40 now) as well as Maharashtra (from 122 to 105), the ally is once again pressing for an “equal sharing formula”. 

While no formal meetings have taken place between the two parties, their leaders have been in touch. 

BJP leaders maintain that the CM post will remain with them. Their argument is that while the Sena is questioning the BJP’s performance, its own hadn’t been that great either. 

“How can we agree on rotation? We have double the number of seats the Sena has,” said a senior BJP leader. “They can also learn from the NCP experiment, when the Congress gave it the deputy chief minister’s post. In 1995, we also accepted the deputy CM’s post even though we could have asked for an equal distribution of power as there wasn’t a big gap between our numbers.” 

While the BJP has managed to form the government in Haryana, offering junior ally Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) the deputy CM’s post, the Sena has demanded a written assurance from the saffron party on equal distribution of power before taking any steps to form the government. 


Also read: How Raj Thackeray’s MNS hurt not just Shiv Sena, but also NCP, Congress and BJP


 

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