MUMBAI: The four-day standoff in Maharashtra, driven by a stubborn Eknath Shinde, has eased, paving the way for the formation of the new state government. On Tuesday, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, tipped to be the next chief minister, met caretaker chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, and worked out an interim arrangement to faciliate formation of the new government, scheduled to be sworn in on December 5. The BJP’s meeting to elect its legislature party leader and the next chief minister of Maharashtra is scheduled for Wednesday.
Fadnavis and Shinde decided to put the contentious issue of certain portfolios and each party’s strength in the Cabinet on hold, so that the new government can take charge on Thursday. Those issues will be sorted out after the new chief minister and his team takes over, it was decided.
Over 30 legislators from the three parties in the Mahayuti coalition – BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP – are expected to be inducted in the state Cabinet during the oath-taking ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
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Ten days after the results of the assembly election were declared, the three allies in the Mahayuti coalition have failed to work out a power-sharing arrangement, which includes the number of Cabinet berths and distribution of portfolios for each party in the new government, as well as critical decisions on guardian ministers and the heads of state corporations.
The impasse arose as Shinde, the outgoing chief minister, feels short-changed, considering he had led the Sena in a stellar performance in the election. Besides, since he has conceded the chief minister’s post to the BJP, Shinde is demanding the post of deputy chief minister along with the home portfolio. He is also demanding a few more plum portfolios and the post of assembly speaker for his party. While the BJP is refusing to part with the home department and the Speaker’s post, it is prepared to negotiate on other portfolios and has offered Shinde the urban development department.
After a stalemate that lasted four days, the BJP reached out to Shinde on Monday, with senior leader Girish Mahajan visiting the caretaker chief minister at his Thane residence, where he was resting after a hectic election campaign. There were signs of a thaw on Tuesday as Shinde reached his official residence, Varsha, in Mumbai.
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Two hours later, the two leaders broke the ice. Fadnavis met Shinde at Varsha, and the two leaders agreed on an interim arrangement. They discussed the distribution of non-contentious portfolios and the sharing of ministerial berths in the state Cabinet. They also agreed on the intervention of senior BJP leader Amit Shah, if needed.
Insiders said the two leaders decided on the number of ministers to be sworn in from each party on Thursday. “The three parties can take another day or two after the swearing-in to decide on the allocation of portfolios,” a BJP leader said.
Bringing Shinde and the Sena back on board took place after a number of meetings. After he reached out to Shinde in Thane on Monday, Mahajan met the caretaker chief minister at Varsha on Tuesday morning. The meeting, which lasted over 30 minutes, was followed by a meeting of senior Sena leaders with Fadnavis at his official bungalow, Sagar. Shinde’s close confidants and former ministers, Uday Samant and Shambhuraj Desai, along with Mahajan met Fadnavis for a second round of talks at Sagar. This was followed by the meeting between Fadnavis and Shinde at Varsha. This meeting too lasted about 30 minutes.
Next, Shinde, Fadnavis and NCP chief Ajit Pawar are likely to meet on Wednesday, after the meeting of BJP MLAs to elect their new leader – Fadnavis is the preferred choice of the party. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former chief minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, who have been appointed observers, arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday night. The 132 newly elected BJP MLAs will choose their legislature party leader, who will also be their nominee for the post of chief minister in the meeting to be held at Vidhan Bhavan in the morning.
The new legislature party leader will stake his claim by calling on Governor C P Radhakrishnan. The claim to form the new Mahayuti government will be staked jointly by the leaders of the three constituents of the alliance.
After that, the three parties will thrash out the power-sharing arrangement between them. “The meeting between leaders of the three parties was expected to take place immediately after their meeting with Amit Shah on Thursday night. However, differences arose between the BJP and Sena over the claim to the home department and other key portfolios including urban development and revenue, and the post of assembly Speaker. Shinde has been sulking owing to the BJP’s refusal to concede the home portfolio and Speaker’s post. He has also been insisting on at least 13 Cabinet berths, over which the BJP is non-committal. This led to Shinde remaining aloof from the power-sharing talks, citing ill-health,” a BJP leader said.
Shinde, in a one-on-one meeting with Amit Shah on Thursday had reportedly been told that the BJP would reserve the home portfolio for the chief minister as was the party’s tradition. Shah had also asked Shinde to amicably resolve the issue of sharing of power with Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
The BJP is expected to concede 11 to 12 berths to the Sena, and 9 to 10 berths to the NCP. The BJP will retain 22 to 23 berths, including the post of CM.
Shinde drives a hard bargain
Eknath Shinde has emerged as a tougher negotiator than the BJP had expected. He has been insisting on the home portfolio and assembly speaker’s post in lieu of the chief minister’s post. it is due to Shinde’s unyielding stand that the new Mahayuti alliance has not been able to work out the details of its power-sharing arrangement ten days after the results of the November 20 elections were announced.
A senior BJP leader said the party is handling Shinde with kid gloves as it does not want to appear as if it used him to split the Shiv Sena and is now prepared to dump him. More importantly, the BJP needs Shinde to help the alliance win the civic elections, expected early next year.
“We can’t ignore the fact that Uddhav Thackeray (Sena-UBT chief) won 10 assembly seats in Mumbai even in a tough election for him. If he manages to win the Mumbai civic polls, he will bounce back. We need Shinde to counter him in Mumbai-MMR,” said the BJP leader.
Shinde is well aware of the cards he’s carrying and is using them to drive a hard bargain. He is demanding a plum portfolio like home also to avoid the perception of accepting a raw deal, after conceding chief ministership, according to his colleagues.
Throughout the day, Sena leaders kept the pressure on the BJP. “We all want him (Shinde) in the government and we want him to handle the home department,” said senior Sena leader Gulabrao Patil. Earlier, party spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat told the media, “We expect the BJP to concede the home department, and think the BJP will not say ‘no’.”
Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar remarked, “Caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde should be respected appropriately (in the new Mahayuti government). After all, he has proved that the one led by him is the real Shiv Sena.”
Ajit now demands 7 berths
With the Shiv Sena battling for the home portfolio, NCP chief Ajit Pawar, the other Mahayuti ally, has presented his party’s wishlist to the central BJP leadership. He is demanding seven Cabinet berths in Maharashtra, one Cabinet berth at the Centre, and the post of Governor.
The three top NCP leaders — Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare — met to discuss these demands in New Delhi on Monday and were likely to discuss them with Union home minister and senior BJP leader, Amit Shah, late on Tuesday. The NCP wants to be treated at par with the Sena, citing its better strike rate. While the Sena won 57 of the 81 seats it contested, the NCP bagged 41 of 59.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said the NCP would have won more seats if it had been allotted a greater number of seats. “The (Eknath) Shinde-led party got more seats to contest and won more, and we got less and thus won fewer seats. But judging by strike rate, the BJP is in the number-one position, NCP in number two, and the Sena is in third place,” Bhujbal said.
NCP insiders said the party wants seven Cabinet and four junior ministerial berths in the new state government. “We also want a Cabinet berth in the Union Cabinet for Praful bhai (Patel) and the Governor’s position for Dilip Walse-Patil,” a senior NCP leader revealed.