Maharashtra stalemate: Are Thackerays justified in demanding CM post for Shiv Sena from BJP?
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Maharashtra stalemate: Are Thackerays justified in demanding CM post for Shiv Sena from BJP?

The tussle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over claiming the post of Maharashtra's chief minister has intensified after Uddhav Thackeray demands 50-50 power sharing.

   
Illustration by Soham Sen | ThePrint

Illustration by Soham Sen | ThePrint

The tussle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over claiming the post of Maharashtra’s chief minister has intensified after Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the BJP assure his party a 50-50 power sharing agreement in writing. This would mean that both the BJP and the Shiv Sena would take turns to appoint the Chief Minister during the five-year term. Both parties have met state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari separately.

ThePrint asks: Maharashtra stalemate: Are Thackerays justified in demanding CM post for Shiv Sena from BJP?


Shiv Sena has moral right to demand CM’s post. It does have experienced leaders who can also run the state

Manisha Kayande
Shiv Sena Spokesperon

The BJP and the Shiv Sena fought the Maharashtra assembly elections together, and before this, the two parties also fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together. There were certain discussions on some aspects, including equal power sharing, something which Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray is reminding the BJP about.

The Shiv Sena shares a direct connect with people, and through various schemes and party efforts, it has touched the lives of many in Maharashtra in the last 50 years. The Shiv Sena is not a new party in the state’s politics. In the past, like in 1995, the Shiv Sena has given the state a CM, and the BJP was given the position of a deputy CM. However, the BJP hasn’t reciprocated the same.

The Shiv Sena definitely has the moral right to demand the CM post. The people of Maharashtra have given the Shiv Sena also a mandate. The BJP can’t form the government with the seats it has got. So, can it join hands with the NCP or the Congress? No, the BJP can’t.

Though the Shiv Sena has won less seats compared to the 2014 assembly elections, the fact remains that it has worked for the welfare of the people all these years.

The Shiv Sena does have experienced leaders who can also run the state.


Shiv Sena can’t demand CM’s post because BJP won most number of votes. So Devendra Fadnavis must be next CM

Shaina NC
BJP Spokesperson

In the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP fought 260 seats, of which it won 122. This time, the party contested 150 seats and won 105, achieving a strike rate of 70 per cent. The only reason the BJP chose to fight less seats in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls is its 25-year-old alliance with the Shiv Sena. The BJP made a political commitment and is now sticking by it.

A political alliance is always made on the basis of vote share of parties and the actual number of seats won. The BJP’s vote share this time is almost double that of the Shiv Sena, which gives the former a clear mandate. So obviously, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis will be selected as the next chief minister.

A 25-year-old alliance means that the BJP and the Shiv Sena have common agendas: promoting the Hindutva ideology, fulfilling the promise of Ram Mandir, and ensuring justice for all. Political parties must look beyond personal appeasement so that every party gets an opportunity to grow. Therefore, the party that wins the maximum number of assembly seats will get the chief minister’s portfolio.

The Shiv Sena can’t be demanding that post because the BJP has clearly emerged as the single largest party in the assembly elections.


Unless people are informed what BJP & Shiv Sena discussed before polls, can’t dismiss Shiv Sena’s demand

Abhay Deshpande
Political Commentator

“Hich Ti Vel” (“This is the time”) was the Shiv Sena’s theme for the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls. The Shiv Sena may have won just 56 seats, but the realisation of the BJP’s fall in vote share from the 2014 polls has spurred the Thackerays to demand the CM’s chair.

For the Shiv Sena to play second fiddle to the BJP was not part of the plan. The former was confident that it will win more seats this time than the latter. Winning 56 seats compared to the BJP’s 105 has been a dampener on the Shiv Sena, a party that has given Maharashtra two chief ministers — Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane.

However, since the Shiv Sena has bagged only half of the BJP’s winning tally, the Thackerays are not justified in their demand for the chief minister’s post. However, this situation can be understood with respect to the political happenings that unfolded after Karnataka assembly elections in 2018. The Congress handed over the CM’s post to the JD(S).

The difference here is that the Congress and the JD(S) did not have a pre-poll alliance, unlike the Shiv Sena and the BJP.

Unless it is put in the public domain what transpired between the BJP and the Shiv Sena in their alliance talk before the assembly elections, the reason for the stand taken by the Thackerays cannot be dismissed as unjustified.

The Shiv Sena knows that the BJP can’t form the government without its support. The Thackerays are well aware of this compulsion.


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


BJP vulnerable now as Shiv Sena exploits situation to grab CM’s post

Sanjay Nirupam
Former President, Mumbai Regional Congress Committee

The question over who will be the next Maharashtra CM is an internal matter between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. However, as a voter, I understand that whichever party sees the maximum number of its MLAs elected, in an alliance in the state assembly, should be entitled to install the next chief minister. Since the BJP is the bigger party in terms of vote share in the alliance, it makes sense that a CM is elected from this party.

In the 1995 alliance between the two parties, when the Shiv Sena won 73 seats and the BJP fewer than that, the CM’s post was occupied by a Shiv Sena leader and the deputy CM was a BJP member. Similar arrangements can be worked out in the present context too.

If the Shiv Sena and the BJP had some pre-poll understanding, a 50-50 power sharing agreement of sorts, it is only then perhaps that the Shiv Sena could have had a point.

However, the BJP in recent years has become weak and the Shiv Sena’s bargaining power has increased. So, arm twisting will continue and this is bound to have a bearing on governance. The Shiv Sena was subdued till now because the BJP kept getting stronger by winning more seats. But this time, the BJP could win only 105 seats, so it is naturally heavily dependent on the Shiv Sena. This has made the BJP vulnerable while the Shiv Sena is trying to exploit the situation to grab its share.

Although the Shiv Sena’s bargaining power has increased, it will still not be able to free itself from the BJP’s shadow.


If Shiv Sena leaves BJP, investigating agencies could go after Uddhav Thackeray

Hemant Desai
Political Analyst

The Thackerays are not at all justified in demanding the chief minister’s post of Maharashtra. The BJP’s vote share has been reduced by 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally. The Shiv Sena’s seats are down to 56 from 63 in 2014.

Sena’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ Monday blamed the Modi government for decisions like demonetisation and improper implementation of the GST. The party has also criticised the government for the worrying condition of the economy. Saamana’s executive editor and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has suggested the party MLAs meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Baramati.

The Shiv Sena is putting up such theatrics to exert pressure on the BJP. Nobody yet knows whether the Shiv Sena’s demand for a 50-50 power sharing approach was a written agreement or not.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi supported Devendra Fadnavis as the next CM. At that time Shiv Sena had not objected to this. If the BJP won the maximum number of seats and there is a huge difference between the BJP and the Shiv Sena’s vote share, then the latter’s demand is unreasonable.

I suspect the Shiv Sena wants creamy ministries like the Home, Revenue, Urban Development, and Housing departments, which explains why all this posturing. It may get the deputy chief minister’s post, which has no power.

The Shiv Sena does not have the option of leaving the BJP because if it aligns with the opposition, then the investigating agencies might go after Uddhav Thackeray.


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


By Taran Deol, journalist at ThePrint