The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction will have a 60:40 share in the Maharashtra government, according to a compromise formula arrived at by the ruling coalition in Delhi. The compromise formula to run the state government was arrived at after a marathon meeting that took place in the late evening on Saturday.
Well-placed sources told The Daily Guardian that Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda to thrash out a compromise formula of power sharing between the coalition partners. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present in the meeting. According to the formula, the BJP will have 60% share in the government while the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena will have 40%. The three-hour-long meeting ended the stalemate between the coalition partners over power sharing and has paved the way for the expansion of the state Cabinet. The Shinde faction had been rooting for a 50:50 power sharing arrangement with the BJP.
According to sources, Shinde arrived in Delhi at 9 p.m. on Saturday on a chartered plane. His deputy Fadnavis had already arrived by 7 p.m. to attend the crucial meeting. The meeting between the leaders of the coalition partners also discussed the cabinet expansion. After the formula was amicably arrived at, the leaders had a discussion on the strategy in the Supreme Court with legal experts.
Both Shinde and Fadnavis returned to Mumbai in a chartered plane after the meeting and cabinet expansion may take place any time soon, said sources.
In the meanwhile, the Shinde faction on Friday filed a reply in the Supreme Court seeking dismissal of the petition moved by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. In the 228-page long reply, the Shinde faction has sought to dismiss Thackeray’s petition seeking restoration of status quo on 27 June.
The Shinde faction has in its reply said that Thackeray should not be given any relief as he has resigned from the chief minister’s post. The petitions have been filed by a chief minister who had lost confidence of his own party, the reply said. In a constitutional democracy, a faction that has lost majority cannot challenge the legality of any action. The Uddhav Thackeray faction is trying to challenge the decisions taken democratically, the reply further said. The court should not intervene into the division within a party which has taken place in a democratic manner. Actually, the Thackeray faction is challenging the decision taken democratically by members of a party on their own volition. By doing so, the Thackeray faction is trying to destabilise the government which enjoys majority in the Assembly, the reply further said.
The top court will hear the case on 3 August and Chief Justice NV Ramanna may take over the hearing or may refer the case to a larger bench of the Supreme Court. The apex court was to hear the case on Monday.