NEW DELHI: BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis is likely to take over as chief minister of Maharashtra on Monday, that is, immediately after Diwali, irrespective of whether Shiv Sena comes on board.
Sources said the central BJP leadership has decided to go ahead with government formation in the state without waiting for Sena to offer support because of the yawning gap between their estimate of the conditions on which Uddhav Thackeray may agree to support a BJP-led government, and what they could offer.
BJP feels that although it is short of the majority mark of 145 (with allies, it has 123 now), the deficit cannot be an impediment because the 41-member-strong NCP, after having extended unconditional support, is unlikely to oppose the trust vote. BJP has also reached out to Independents and smaller parties and reckons that 15 MLAs might agree to support a BJP government.
As per Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha, which applies also to states, a government which clears the numbers test can be made to take another one only after a gap of six months.
BJP strategists feel this window will be big enough for it to find the missing numbers.
The presence of NDA appointee C Vidyasagar Rao in Raj Bhavan can only be a help, feel BJP tacticians.
Sources said BJP, at least at this point in time, is in no mood to offer Sena the deputy chief ministership, the post of Speaker or any of the eight “heavyweight” portfolios and recognizes that its offer might fall way short of expectations.
BJP sources said the party would like to keep eight portfolios — home, finance, revenue, urban development, agriculture, irrigation, public health and public works — which will be crucial for its ambition to provide “good governance” but which have for decades been seen as “money-spinners”.
Although there have been no formal power-sharing negotiations between the two sides, sources in BJP spoke of a stalemate in terms of attitude. They said Sena, which relished playing ‘Big Brother’ for 25 years, has not yet reconciled to the new reality where it cannot hope to have the upper hand any more.
BJP itself, which smarted under the humiliation of having been reduced to an adjunct to Matoshree, is now unsentimental about leveraging its superior numbers and just-acquired status as the dominant political formation in Maharashtra.
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