After more than a month of negotiations with BJP and after saying that it would settle for nothing less than the deputy chief minister's post and the home portfolio, the Shiv Sena on Monday agreed to join the BJP-led Maharashtra government by accepting lesser portfolios. Sena may be given the public works, energy and water conservation ministries, sources said.
While firmly rejecting Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's demand that his party should get the deputy CMship and the home department, BJP has offered six cabinet berths and four state ministerships to the Sena, it is learned.
The cabinet expansion, which will see the induction of the 10 Sena ministers, has been scheduled for December 3. Ten BJP ministers will be sworn in as well, it is said. Sources said Sena leader Subhash Desai, Divakar Raote and Eknath Shinde will be sworn in as cabinet ministers. Several other names are doing the rounds - for instance, Sanjay Rathod (Vidarbha), Sanjay Shirsat (Marathwada) and Vaibhav Naik, the Konkan MLA who defeated Congress leader Narayan Rane in the assembly elections. From Mumbai, Sunil Prabhu and Sanjay Potnis are likely to be inducted as ministers of state. Sena leader Neelam Gorhe too may get a ministerial berth, sources added.
The new Sena-BJP arrangement is also good news for the BJP government at the Centre, which needs Sena's support to get the Insurance Law (Amendment) bill passed in a joint session of Parliament. Sena had last week voiced its opposition to the bill after first pledging support. The Modi government has lined up key reform bills during the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
By teaming up with the ruling party, Sena may set an unsavoury precedent in state politics, said a Mantralaya bureaucrat. "Never before has a 63-strong opposition group walked over to the treasury benches, lock stock and barrel," he pointed out.
Sena's Eknath Shinde was elected opposition leader in the assembly during the special legislature session from November 10 to 12. The Devendra Fadnavis government had then won the trust vote controversially with a voice vote.
Sena gave its nod of approval to the BJP formula after prolonged negotiations late Monday evening. Many in BJP had indicated the party was not comfortable with NCP's outside support, which Sharad Pawar's party offered on October 19, the day the assembly poll results were out. Chief minister Fadnavis himself was not amenable to the idea of NCP propping up his regime.
Sources said the Sena-BJP truce came about following instructions from BJP's central leadership to Fadnavis to win over Matoshree as the party lacked a majority in the assembly. The BJP high command was keen on a patch-up ahead of the crucial winter session of the legislature scheduled for December 8.
But the state BJP leadership made it clear to the party high command that it would not be appropriate to offer the sensitive home portfolio to the Sena. The New Delhi bosses accepted the Maharashtra BJP's suggestion, it is learnt.
With a section of Sena MLAs growing restless to join the government, Matoshree grabbed BJP's offer to avoid a split in the 63-strong legislature party. "All tall claims of Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde that Sena would sit in opposition were mere posturing," said a state BJP functionary.
The power-sharing formula was hammered out on Monday after parleys in which Fadnavis, BJP leaders and Sena leaders Subhash Desai and Anil Desai participated. Negotiations were held at Varsha, the CM's official residence at Malabar Hill.