Devendra Fadnavis meets Amit Shah as Maharashtra deadlock continues

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 4

The Bharatiya Janata Party will form the next government in Maharashtra and that “doors are open for the Shiv Sena”, sources in the party said on a day Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today called on Home Minister Amit Shah to seek more assistance from the Centre for farmers affected by unseasonal rains in the State. 

Fadnavis said he requested the Home Minister for more assistance from the Centre and “submitted a detailed report based on the primary assessment”.

“The Centre will send a team for detailed assessment soon. I have also requested for one meeting to be called by the Centre with insurance companies to relax norms and give maximum assistance to farmers. The Home Minister has immediately asked concerned officials to schedule this meeting,” Fadnavis said. 

According to the state government’s preliminary estimates, crops in over 54 lakh hectares have been damaged due to these unseasonal rains.

Matters related to the formation of the government in Maharashtra, where ally Shiv Sena continues to play hard ball for a ‘50-50’ power sharing arrangement, were also discussed. “It is wait and watch, doors are open for the Sena,” sources said.

The BJP is “concerned, willing to part with important portfolios but unwilling to part with the Chief Minister’s position. Going with the NCP is not an option”, said the sources.  Fadnavis, who later met senior BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, is also believed to have consulted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari—another leader from Fadnavis’s own Nagpur.

“A couple of portfolios are held by leaders considered close to Gadkari. There are other options, things should fall in place by November 8 (which is when the tenure of the existing Legislative Assembly ends),” the sources also added 
State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar last week said Maharashtra could head for the President’s rule if the new government is not in place by November 7 in the state where no headway has been made in the government formation more than 10 days after the Assembly results were declared. This is not the first time that government formation has been delayed in the state.

A prolonged standoff between warring BJP and Sena has resulted in speculations on permutations and combinations with other players in field—the Congress and the NCP—whose leaders Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar also met today.  The BJP and the Sena fought together, winning 105 seats and 56 seats, respectively. The NCP secured 54 seats and the Congress 44 in the 288-member legislative Assembly where the halfway mark is 145.