New Delhi: With the Shiv Sena pulling out of BJP-led government at the Centre over differences in government formation in Maharashtra, the seating arrangement of party MPs in Rajya Sabha has been changed.
Sources said that Shiv Sena MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai will now sit in the opposition benches during the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning Monday. Shiv Sena has three MPs in the upper house of parliament. Rajya Sabha sources said that the sitting arrangement of Shiv Sena MPs has been changed and Raut and Desai will sit in the opposition benches now.
Shiv Sena and BJP have parted ways following differences over power-sharing in Maharashtra. The two had fought the assembly polls together and won a majority in the results announced last month.
Shiv Sena insisted that there had been an understanding between the two parties on having the chief minister for two-and-a-half-years each. The BJP, however, has said there has been no understanding on the issue.
The Shiv Sena is now engaged in parleys with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress to form a non-BJP government in the state.
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A good long read in IE today how the relationship between the two partners has continued to evolve and unravel. If the Sena recollection of what was agreed to in February is accurate, when the disappointing results came in, the BJP ought to have demonstrated greater flexibility. Barring recourse to unconventional means, it cannot impede the coming together of three parties that have a simple majority, tied with a red ribbon. 2. Seen in a broader context, the coming together of the a Congress and the Shiv Sena changes the basic parameters of Indian politics. Why should the BSP and the SP not cooperate in UP.