Mumbai: As the Bharatiya Janata Party gears up to form its first government in Maharashtra, former ally Shiv Sena has decided to boycott the swearing-in of Chief Minister-elect Devendra Fadnavis on Friday.
The Shiv Sena said that they have been constantly humiliated by the BJP despite claims of talks being held for a possible tie-up. "We have constantly been humiliated by the BJP, which has not gone down well with our MLAs. As our MLAs feel that BJP did not give us due respect, why should we attend the oath-taking ceremony," Sena MP Vinayak Raut said after meeting party president Uddhav Thackeray.
However, Raut refused to comment on whether the Shiv Sena will sit in the opposition if they are not invited to be a part of the government formation.
The tough posturing by Shiv Sena came hours after BJP said that no minister from that party was likely to be inducted in the Cabinet on Friday. "It seems unlikely that any Shiv Sena minister will be sworn in tomorrow. Talks with Sena are on in an amicable atmosphere for a possible tie-up in Maharashtra but there has been no outcome yet," BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said.
Raut also said that no talks had been scheduled between Shiv Sena and BJP leaders for discussing a possible alliance between the two parties. Earlier in the day, Sena MP and spokesman Sanjay Raut had said "positive talks" were on between the two parties and extended best wishes to Fadnavis and his team.
Extending its support to the BJP, the Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' had warned the party against taking the Nationalist Congress Party's support. "It is a matter of pride that Maharashtra is being led by Virdarbha. Sena says that it welcomes the new Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis. He comes from Vidarbha - a region where the NCP has been involved in scams. Taking support from the NCP will raise questions on the credibility of the Fadnavis government," the Saamana editorial said.
Fadnavis on Thursday met BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi ahead of the swearing in ceremony.
44-year-old Fadnavis, a four-time MLA from Nagpur, will be administered the oath of office by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at Wankhede Stadium in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several of his Cabinet colleagues, Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states, corporate leaders, Bollywood stars and other celebrities.
A small Cabinet of about a dozen ministers including state BJP Core Committee members Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde besides MLAs from Schedule Castes and Scheduled tribes is also likely to be sworn in. "A slim and trim government will take oath tomorrow," a BJP leader said.
BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the 288-member state Assembly with 122 seats but one of its MLAs Govind Rathod died. Though technically it will be a minority government until Sena joins it, declared support from 41-member NCP will act as a hedge for the BJP dispensation. It also has the support of several independent MLAs and those from some smaller parties.
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