Uddhav tells cadre on camera: Forced BJP to agree to 2-CM formula

Uddhav Thackeray and Amit Shah

In less than 48 hours of announcing a pre-poll alliance, the Shiv Sena and BJP have started bickering. While the Sena claimed that the number of seats won will not be a criterion for the chief minister's post, the BJP declared exactly the opposite. The Sena chief spoke of sharing the tenure of the CM's post whereas the BJP alleged incorrect interpretation of its "equal power sharing" statement.

A section of the Shiv Sena cadre gathered outside Matoshree, the Thackeray residence in Bandra, on Wednesday. In his interaction with party workers, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray made it amply clear that the alliance with the BJP has been not been formed on the old terms and conditions that were followed for the past 25 years (CM post is claimed by the party which wins the maximum number of seats).

"Sena's dream of having its chief minister will certainly be fulfilled. The terms and conditions are not the same as they used to be earlier with the alliance partner. This time, I have totally rejected the formula that allows the single largest party to claim the CM's post. According to the new formula, it is equal treatment and distribution of power (which means sharing the tenure of the CM post, irrespective of the numbers)," Thackeray told party workers.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, with son Aaditya (far left) and senior party leader Manohar Joshi (second left) in a discussion, even as BJP president Amit Shah tries to listen in during the pre-poll alliance anouncement at a hotel in Worli recently. Pic/Ashish Raje

'Sena misinterpreted words'
In the late 1980s, the Sena-BJP inked the saffron alliance as both parties shared the Hindutva ideology, with national interest and the country's security in focus. Both parties contested the last parliamentary elections (2014) as alliance partners too but fell apart in the state assembly election held in October 2014 as the BJP refused to accept Sena as its senior partner in the state polls. A tussle between the two has only been on the rise ever since. However, leaders from both camps claimed that they have buried the differences and accordingly, a seat-sharing formula was announced for the 2019 parliamentary and state assembly elections as well.

However, contradictions between the parties don't seem to die yet. A senior BJP leader on condition of anonymity stated, "Equal sharing of power is what was mentioned in the press conference jointly addressed by top Sena-BJP leaders. Nothing about CM's tenure was mentioned during the media meet or closed-door meeting." He added that it is quite possible that Sena leadership has wrongly interpreted the "equal power sharing" words. "Equal sharing is in responsibilities and not division of the CM's tenure in two equal parts." Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and minister Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday, in response to a journalist, clearly hinted that the party winning the maximum seats will stake claim to the CM's post.

288
Total no. of seats in state Assembly

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