Newly-elected Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said on Thursday party chief and his father Uddhav Thackeray’s word on government formation in Maharashtra will be last.
Aaditya Thackeray’s comment came after a delegation of Shiv Sena leaders met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari amid a discussion between his party and alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over a power-sharing formula.
“I will not comment on government formation. Uddhav ji will say whatever needs to be said on that. His word will be final,” Aaditya Thackeray said while speaking to reporters after the meeting.
Aaditya Thackeray said the delegation sought a prompt financial aid for farmers and fishermen hit by untimely rains in the state.
“We requested the governor to provide assistance to farmers and fishermen, who suffered damages due to recent rains. He has assured us that he himself will talk to the Centre,” he said.
Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde, who was earlier in the day elected the party leader in the state legislature, was also among the newly-elected leaders of the Shiv Sena.
Shinde’s candidature was proposed by Aaditya Thackeray, whose name was also doing the rounds for the post, at the meeting of the newly-elected Sena MLAs.
The decision to name Shinde came after Aaditya Thackeray and his father, Uddhav, agreed that the 29-year-old should sit out of the BJP-Sena alliance government for now.
Aaditya Thackeray’s decision will also impact how the Sena negotiates for cabinet berths in the new government with the BJP.
A senior Sena leader also said Uddhav Thackeray may not want the deputy chief ministership because son Aaditya is not going to be part of the BJP-Shiv Sena government at this point.
The alliance partners have been locked in a bitter tussle over sharing power after they were re-elected in the October 21 state elections.
The BJP won 105 seats and the Sena bagged 56 in the 288-member assembly. The opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has 54 seats while its alliance partner Congress has 44. Independents and smaller parties together — including partners of both alliances — have 29 seats.
The Sena had started the negotiations by demanding that the BJP stick to a 50-50 power-sharing formula the two parties had reportedly decided in February this year.
Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s presumptive chief minister, has denied that there was any decision to share the chief minister’s post.
Under the power-sharing formula that is under discussion between the two alliance partners, the BJP is offering the Shiv Sena two or three more berths in the council of ministers over the 13 slots that it has had in the 2014 edition of the alliance government.
If the Sena doesn’t want the deputy chief minister’s post, it could throw in one more cabinet berth. But the Sena wants some more spots.
In the outgoing government, the BJP has 27 ministers, the Sena 13 and smaller allies have another three.
The BJP has made it clear that the chief minister’s post wasn’t up for discussion. Neither are strategically important portfolios such as home, finance, revenue and urban development.
It has offered public works, housing and agriculture departments, among others, to the Sena.
The negotiations to firm up the shape and format of the new government that is likely to be formed early next week will enter the home stretch over the weekend, people familiar with the development said.
