After the thaw, Sena presents new proposal to join Ministry

‘For two BJP Ministers, we want one Sena Minister,’ says a senior Sena leader

Shiv Sena party president Uddhav Thackeray greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the swearing-in ceremony at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai Friday. Photo: Vivek Bendre

Hours after the BJP pacified a sulking Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to ensure his presence at the swearing-in ceremony of its first Chief Minister in Maharashtra, the Sena has given a new proposal for its inclusion in the Ministry.

According to sources it was the Shiv Sena’s threat of a formal announcement that it would sit in the opposition which forced the BJP president Amit Shah to telephone Sena president and invite him personally for the oath-taking ceremony.

“For two BJP Ministers, we want one Sena Minister,” said a senior leader from the party. In the first go, Mr. Fadvanis has inducted seven Cabinet and two Ministers of State into his Ministry.

The Sena had earlier given a proposal seeking 13 ministerial berths which obviously was not acceptable to the BJP. However, an aggressive stand taken by the Sena leadership just few hours before the swearing-in ceremony forced the BJP to resume talks with its former ally.

Even before the thaw the Sena gave ample indications that it has not given up hopes of making a come-back into the BJP alliance fold.

This was evident from an editorial in Saamna, mouth-piece of the Sena, which chose to target the Congress for attacking the BJP for the reportedly “huge expenditure” being incurred on the much publicised oath-taking ceremony.

After all its efforts to convince the BJP to include a content of its nominees in the government failed, the Sena on Thursday evening announced that it would not to participate in the oath ceremony as the party was not treated with dignity.

“ Some Congress leaders have criticised the amount that will be spent on this programme. This is an indication of their defeated State of mind ”

“Some Congress leaders have criticised the amount that will be spent on this programme. This is an indication of their defeated State of mind,” said the editorial in Saamna .

Several activists and political leaders have criticised the BJP for spending crores of rupees of government’s money over the swearing in ceremony. The editorial said that those who were responsible to take this state on the path of bankruptcy through their corruption cases of thousands of crores were now shouting against the expenditure of this programme. “This is ridiculous,” it said.

Extending best wishes to the Chief Minister designate, Devendra Fadanvis, the editorial said that he must work to work to stop the outflow of money from Mumbai to other States. “Maharashtra’s identity in last 15 years was of a state of scams. This swearing in ceremony will bring a new start and therefore the programme must be of great standard,” it said.

>Uddhav attends Fadnavis swearing-in After threatening to boycott the event, the BJP’s estranged ally, the Shiv Sena caved in. >Read More...

>Will follow Modi’s model: Fadnavis Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis pledged to follow the “Modi model of inclusive growth”. >Read More...

		>Dalit, tribal find place in Maharashtra Cabinet MLC Chandrakant Patil, tribal leader Vishnu Savra and and Prakash Mehta from the Gujarati community were also sworn in as Cabinet Ministers. >Read More...

>Fadnavis promises transparency The Chief Minister said that he had asked every Ministry to make presentations of policy decisions and prepare a charter for transparency >Read More...