MUMBAI: There seems to be no end in sight for the Maharashtra logjam as Shiv Sena MP and editor of party mouthpiece Saamana, Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that “the Sena has 175 MLAs with it and won’t settle for anything less than CM’s post”.
Amid the impasse on government formation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will reportedly head to Delhi on Monday to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sources, however, said the meeting with Shah will be to discuss aid from the National Disaster Relief Fund to farmers affected by unseasonal rains across the state.
While the state government announced a Rs 10,000 crore package for affected farmers, ally Sena, as well as opposition Congress and NCP, called it inadequate considering the several lakh hectares of crops that have been damaged.
In his column ‘Rokhthok’ in Saamana, Raut has blamed the BJP’s ego for destroying alliance politics.
Raut, who addressed a press conference on Sunday, said, “The impasse continues. There is no discussion on government formation. If talks happen, it will only be on the issue of the chief minister’s post.” Earlier, in his weekly column in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut likened the impasse over government formation to a “chariot stuck in the mud of arrogance”.
He also dared the BJP to impose President’s Rule in the state, saying such a step would be the party’s “biggest defeat”.
There was speculation that the Sena may join hands with the NCP and form the government with outside support from the Congress. However, the NCP leadership clarified that the party would go with its mandate of sitting in the opposition.