BJP cosies up to Shiv Sena

 Ahead of the crucial Nagpur winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP has decided to initiate fresh round of talks with the Shiv Sena to include its former ally in the ministry.

Accordingly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis intends to expand his council of ministers by next week so that the new BJP dispensation’s first full-fledged session runs smoothly.
“We (BJP and Shiv Sena) have been together for 25 years. Before the elections, we could not reach a seat-sharing arrangement and had to part ways, but we want the Shiv Sena to be with us. The people of Maharashtra want it and so do the workers of both parties,” Fadnavis told reporters here on Thursday.

The chief minister pointed out that he had spoken to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray only a few days ago. He said the Shiv Sena is part of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and that both the parties should run the government in Maharashtra together.

The Shiv Sena chief would meet a BJP core committee on Friday after Petroleum
and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Maharashtra Cooperation and Marketing Minister Chandrakant Patil arrive to see him. “Talks were on earlier and are happening now. We hope that the Shiv Sena would be with us,” Patil said.

When asked about the BJP’s move to initiate talks, senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam said that Thackeray would be the one to take a call. “Uddhavji would decide on this and take the final decision,” Kadam said.

The Sena has refrained from joining the ministry and instead claimed the post of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Senior leader from Thane, Eknath Shinde, was elected Opposition leader.
DH News Service