Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who has lately been very vocal on the current political upheaval in Maharashtra, on Friday yet again took a jibe at former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Taking to Twitter, Raut said, "Kabhee Kabhee kuchh rishton se baahar hee aa jaana achchha hota hai .ahankaar ke lie nahin ..svaabhimaan ke lie (Sometimes it is good to come out of some relationships. Not for egotism .. For self-respect).
Hinting at the reason for the allies to part ways, Raut explained that at times some relationships need to be ended to uphold self-respect.
The BJP and Shiv Sena, who fought the Maharashtra Assembly election together, ended their alliance after a bitter tussle over power-sharing in the state. Sena had demanded a coalition government under 50:50 formula, including a rotational chief minister. The BJP, however, rejected the proposal and after days of discussion, Uddhav Thackeray's party decided to end the alliance.
Now, Sena has joined hands with the Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and most likely, they will form a government by Friday. Sources claimed that the NCP and Shiv Sena have agreed to rotate the CM's post among themselves for 2.5 years. But it is still unclear which party will get the top post at the first shot.
After reportedly finalising the power-sharing deal for government formation in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar late on Thursday. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was also present during the midnight meeting which took place at Pawar's residence which was also attended by his daughter Supriya Sule and nephew Ajit Pawar. After emerging from the meeting no one spoke but Thackeray smiled and Raut gave the 'thumbs up' sign, indicating all was on the right track.
Though details are not available, it is learnt that Pawar briefed them on all the political development in New Delhi in the past five days, the power-sharing formula, the post of CM, Dy. CM, ministries, etc, among the three prospective partners - Sena-NCP-Congress.
Maharashtra is currently under President's Rule. BJP emerged as the single-largest party in the election by winning 105 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. Sena secured the second position with 56 seats while the NCP and Congress won 54 and 44, respectively.
