MUMBAI: Offering a climbdown from his demand of being allowed to continue as the head of the Mahayuti govt, Sena chief Eknath Shinde asked BJP brass at a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi last week that if it wasn’t possible to give him the post for govt’s full term, he should be made the CM for at least the first six months, a veteran politician has revealed. But BJP leadership rejected this proposal outright, saying it would set a bad precedent, he said.
“There is no system of appointing a CM for six months; it would be a bad decision and would have an adverse impact on the administration,” he said, citing BJP functionaries.
The meeting was held on Nov 28 a day after Shinde said he would not be an obstacle to formation of govt and would accept any decision taken by BJP brass as “final”. It was also attended by BJP functionary Devendra FadnavisNCP president Ajit Pawar, its working president Praful Patel and its state chief Sunil Tatkare.
According to the politician, Shinde initially reminded BJP brass of the purported promise made after the Lok Sabha election and in the run-up to the assembly polls that if the alliance secured a clear majority, he would be retained as the chief minister. This request was rejected outright on the grounds that it would be wrong to give him the post when BJP secured “a near clear majority” in the 288-member House. BJP won 132 seats, Sena 57 and NC. In 2014, BJP had secured 122 seats and Fadnavis was then elected as CM with NCP’s outside support.
In response, Shinde was asked to put himself in the shoes of the BJP president, the politician said. “The BJP leadership told Shinde: ‘Will you give up the claim to the CM post if you secured a clear majority?’ Shinde was left speechless,” he said.
Shinde reportedly began advocating for himself strongly since the assembly poll results but Fadnavis had made it clear there was no scope for him to be made the chief minister again. The politician said no call has been taken on how big the cabinet will be. It may be decided after BJP’s legislature party meeting on Wednesday.
Shinde had left for his native village in Satara a day after the Delhi meeting owing to ill health and returned to Mumbai on Sunday. On his return, he reiterated that he would support any decision BJP brass takes on the next CM and that he, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar would meet and resolve “a lot of issues regarding power sharing”.
