CM swearing-in to be a subdued affair in Maharashtra

Mumbai: With the cloud of uncertainty continuing to hover over the new government in Maharashtra and mounting fear that the BJP may fail to get the support of its alliance partner, Shiv Sena, the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP government is likely to be a low-key affair.

The party, which earlier wanted to hold a mega event at Wankhede stadium, is now going for a subdued swearing-in at Vidhan Bhavan lawns.

On Tuesday, the Shiv Sena termed Devendra Fadnavis as the “outgoing chief minister”, while the BJP reiterated that Mr Fadnavis would lead the next state government.

Late Tuesday evening, Mr Fadnavis visited RSS headquarter in Nagpur to meet Mohan Bhagwat. According to sources, Mr Fadnavis reached RSS headquarter at around 9.30pm and left at around 11 pm. RSS functionaries in Nagpur remained tight-lipped about what transpired at the meeting.

If the saffron party stakes claim to form the next government, the governor will ask it to prove its majority within a stipulated period. If the Sena decides against supporting its alliance partner, the BJP-led government will fail the floor test, which will open a string of possibilities.

Shiv Sena, the second-largest party in the House, can get the chance to form the next government if it manages to get support from the Congress and NCP.

Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs and has the support of seven Independent MLAs in the 288-member Assembly. If the NCP (54 MLAs) and Congress (44MLAs) join, they will together hit the majority number of 145.

While there are indications that the NCP is ready to join the Sena in the government, Congress is non-committal even on the outside support.

NCP leader Nawab Malik on Tuesday said his party will think of providing an alternative government if Shiv Sena declares that it has snapped its ties with the BJP-led NDA. “Under no circumstances, we will allow the President’s rule to be imposed in the state,” he said.

Earlier in the day the BJP core committee held a meeting at the chief minister’s official residence “Varsha”, which was attended by state BJP president Chandrakant Patil and senior ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Girish Mahajan.

After the meeting, Mr Patil claimed that a new government would be formed in the next couple of days. “Respecting the mandate given to the grand alliance by the people of Maharashtra, we will form the next government under Mr Fadnavis’ leadership,” he said.

Talking about alliance partner Shiv Sena, Mr Patil said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had not sent any proposal on forming of the new government.

“The Shiv Sena has not given any proposal. Sena should send its proposal as soon as possible. The BJP is ready to hold the discussion over the proposal. The BJP would like to form the government by taking everyone into confidence,” Mr Patil said.

Interestingly, both parties have only been issuing statements through the media, while not holding any discussions with each other.

Mr Mahajan rejected Sena’s demand for a written assurance before talks for government formation begin. “We have decided that Devendra Fadnavis would be the chief minister for the next five years. BJP is ready to hold talks with Sena over other portfolios,” he said.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut has said that his party is firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power-sharing, including sharing of the CM’s post for two-and-a-half years.

In 1995, when the first Sena-BJP government was formed, the swearing-in took place at Shivaji Park and in 2014 it was at Wankhede stadium.