Quantcast
Channel: Latest News Photos
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2214

Sena names Uddhav CM-pick, BJP talks tough

$
0
0

A day after Shiv Sena tried to present ally BJP with a fait accompli by nominating Uddhav Thackeray as its chief ministerial candidate, BJP made it clear that no decision had been taken on the matter yet and indicated that the Sena could not take its claim to the CM's post for granted.



"The matter of leadership, of whether we will have a CM candidate and who it will be, has not been discussed in the BJP or with the Shiv Sena," BJP general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy told TOI. "We will begin to work out issues like seat-sharing soon," he said.



While state BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis said he was not in the race for the CM's post, the Sena, for its part, reiterated that Uddhav would be CM. "Uddhav-ji, on his own, is not keen on being CM. But pressure is mounting on him from party seniors and Shiv Sainiks to take up the responsibility," Sena MP Sanjay Raut said.



Sources said the stage seems set for some tough bargaining between the BJP and the Sena as the former is all set to demand a larger share of seats in the assembly election scheduled for October.



The Sena has traditionally contested 171 of the total 288 seats in the state, while the BJP gets to fight 117. This time though, the Sena's status as senior partner seems in doubt as the BJP is looking to set the recent Lok Sabha results as the benchmark for seat-sharing.



The BJP won 23 LS seats in the state, and the Sena 18, while one seat was bagged by saffron ally Swabhimani Paksha.



BJP circles see the Sena move as pre-emptive, intended to stake claim to the CM's office ahead of any formal discussions with its ally.



The gambit is seen as partly driven by MNS chief Raj Thackeray's declaration that he will contest the assembly election and partly in anticipation of bargaining with BJP.



The BJP is keeping several options open, like laying outright claim to the leadership or a sharing of tenure. The BJP also has the advantage of NCP indicating it is open to realignment as its alliance with Congress wears thin.



But despite NCP's readiness, there are reservations in BJP as it is felt that Sharad Pawar's outfit has come to be closely identified with the negative image of the state government.



What is adding to the Sena-BJP intrigue is the apparent lack of chemistry between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uddhav, with the latter seen to be on better terms with Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj.



A key Maharashtra BJP functionary said, "The Sena's behaviour is strange. Speaking at a party rally on Sunday, Uddhav didn't even show the courtesy to acknowledge PM Modi's stellar role in the Sena-BJP's spectacular poll performance. He refrained from even mentioning Modi-ji's name."



Pointing out that Sena leaders don't care for political decorum, the BJP functionary said, "They don't even say publicly that they will consult the BJP on the CM's issue."



Meanwhile, BJP leader Vinod Tawde said on Monday that "the CM will be finalized by the 'maha-yuti' leaders."




Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2214

Trending Articles



<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>