The Shiv Sena on Monday announced it will sit in the opposition bences in Maharashtra assembly and seek the leader of opposition’s post for Eknath Shinde, indicating that it won’t patch up with former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Sena announced the decision in a letter to the assembly secretary after its legislators sat in Opposition benches at the beginning of the assembly session following a deadlock in its talks with the BJP over allocation of ministries.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will have to pass a floor test during the special three-day session to prove the majority of the BJP government in the state. According to some reports, Fadnavis will seek a trust vote after the Speaker’s election on Wednesday.
Discussions over a possible alliance between the BJP, which has 121 MLAs in the 288-member House, and the Sena - with 61 MLAs - have failed to reach a conclusion so far.
The troubled ties between the parties took another wrong turn on Sunday when MP Anil Desai, the Sena’s pick for a ministerial berth, decided to boycott the expansion of the Union cabinet.
Later in the evening, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said the Sena will prefer to sit in the Opposition in Maharashtra if the BJP sought help from the NCP, which has offered unconditional support to the saffron party and may abstain from trust vote.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar said, the decision to back the minority government was “conscious and collective” and not part of a “hidden deal” with BJP.
