Shiv Sena, oldest ally of BJP and a key partner in Maharashtra, continues to mount pressure on the Lotus party on its 50:50 power share formula and put out poster on Friday hailing Aditya Thackeray as ‘future Chief Minister’.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday hinted that all may not be so well with its longtime partner BJP. “We have been accommodating during the Lok Sabha elections. But I can’t keep doing that anymore. I have to make sure my party flourishes,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
On Friday morning in its editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, the party sought to warn all stake holders not to display ‘arrogance of power’.
It said the verdict in Maharashtra, which has again returned BJP-Sena to power with reduced tally, has rejected a perception that elections can be won by engineering defections and splitting opposition parties.
It said while questions were raised earlier that if the Sharad Pawar-led NCP had any future, but the poll mandate showed – “the NCP bounced back” crossing the 50-seat mark, while Congress won 44 seats.
“The results were a warning to rulers not to show arrogance of power”.
Sena could be interested for an arrangement under which Aditya Thackeray may get Chief Ministerial post after two-and-half years. It could also ask for the post of Speaker. The BJP won 100 seats and is leading on 5 while the Sena has bagged 57 seats.
Notably for BJP, the show was not as splendid as expected from Nagpur, the hometown of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and also BJP stalwart Nitin Gadkari’s parliamentary constituency.
Of the 12 seats in Nagpur district, the BJP could win six, the Congress four, the NCP one and an independent one. Nagpur city and Nagpur rural went to Congress.
Nagpur, the hometown of Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, turned out to be a tough electoral battleground for the BJP which could win just six of the 12 seats on offer in the district on Thursday. The BJP had won 11 of the 12 seats in Nagpur district in the 2014 assembly elections. Of course,
Mr Fadnavis won from Nagpur South West. (UNI)
