Amid Power Tussle In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis Meets Amit Shah In Delhi

The power tussle between Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra reached the national capital on Monday after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Home Minister and party president Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi. JP Nadda, working president of BJP, was also present during the meeting. 

After the meeting, Devendra Fadnavis said, “I don't want to comment on anything anyone is saying on new Government formation. All I want to say is that the new Government will be formed soon, I am confident.”

The BJP has won 105 seats in the Assembly polls, results of which were declared on October 24, while the Sena got 56.

However, the two parties, which fought the polls in alliance, have got caught in a stalemate over the chief minister’s post, with the Sena demanding equal division of the top post’s tenure and the BJP rejecting it.

Sources, however, said the meeting with Shah will be to discuss aid from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) 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.

The state government had earlier put the crop area damaged at 54.22 lakh hectares. Incidentally, earlier in the day, the Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had raised the “mysterious silence” of Shah, who heads the BJP, on the deadlock over formation of government.

The term of the current Maharashtra Legislative Assembly ends on November 9.