India
‘Pre-election deal for CM post’: Shinde Sena leader’s comment revives memories of Uddhav’s claim in 2019 | India News – Times of India
A Shiv Sena leader, who is close to interim Prime Minister Eknath Shinde, has claimed that there was an agreement after the Lok Sabha elections that Shinde would take over the reins of the state if Mahayuti won the Assembly elections.
Read more- Maharashtra government formation: Deal was for Shiv Sena chief to be CM, says neta close to Eknath Shinde
The Sena leader said that after the Mahayuti debacle in the LS polls, there were a series of meetings to formulate a strategy for the Assembly elections. “During these meetings, it was decided that the BJP would contest the maximum number of seats, followed by Shiv Sena and NCP, but “irrespective of the number of seats Mahayuti voters win, Shinde will remain the CM if Mahayuti wins a clear majority. the leader claimed.
The Shiv Sena, which won 57 seats in the assembly elections, is strongly advocating continuity at the top and wants the BJP to retain Eknath Shinde as chief minister of Mahayuti. However, the BJP, which has 132 seats, which is just 12 short of half of the 288-member assembly, is adamant about Devendra Fadnavis leading the new government.
Rejecting Sena’s claims, the BJP leaders said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had made it clear during the course of the elections that while Mahayuti under the leadership of Shinde contested the Assembly elections, but in the In case it gets a clear majority, the new CM would be decided by the parliamentary council of BJP and the heads of Shiv Sena and NCP.
In 2019, after the parliamentary election results were announced, the BJP faced a similar challenge. The BJP and Shiv Sena, then united under the NDA, had achieved a comprehensive victory to retain power in the state by winning 161 seats after a five-year term under Devendra Fadnavis. However, Uddhav’s party, which had won only 56 seats compared to the BJP’s 105, claimed that then BJP chief Amit Shah had agreed on a rotating chief ministership for the two parties.
Amit Shah strongly denied Uddhav’s claim. “No such promise has ever been made to them. I do not make promises in a room with closed doors, but in public meetings – in the open air, with a loud and clear voice,” Amit Shah had said at a public meeting then.
As divisions over the issue widened, Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP and formed an alliance with the NCP and Congress under the banner of Maha Vikas Aghadi after the elections, and Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister.
However, 2024 is different from 2019. The BJP, with 132 seats under its belt, is in a dominant position and none of its allies are in a position to dictate terms to the saffron party. While Eknath Shinde’s party may push hard for the top position, it does not want to strain ties with the BJP and lose the gains it has made in the last two and a half years. It will be interesting to see how the BJP responds to Shinde Sena’s claim of a ‘pre-electoral agreement’.
