Mumbai: Lashing out at the BJP during a party meeting with Shiv Sena workers, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that party founder Balasaheb Thackeray was a man of his word and the BJP should abide by its promise of a 50-50 formula for power-sharing in Maharashtra.
Saying that the Shiv Sena was not power-hungry, Uddhav stressed that the formula was agreed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting before the Lok Sabha election and he must ring true on it now.
Uddhav further said that the post of the chief minister was not always permanent for any one person, Uddhav added that the Shiv Sena has performed well in the assembly election and it has a right to see a Sena member at the chief minister's post.
The Shiv Sena chief also attacked Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his informal interaction with media on Diwali and said that the talks between Shiv Sena and BJP came to a halt only after Fadnavis' statements on Diwali.
Asking the party members not to fret over anything, Uddhav said that the MLAs from other parties, including the Congress and NCP, are also in touch with Shiv Sena.
Earlier on Thursday, Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had said that the MLAs from other parties were in touch with the Shiv Sena. On the other hand, Shiv Sena supremo had then said in a meeting of newly-elected MLAs of his party that they should not believe in rumours. Uddhav added that the Shiv Sena is yet to receive an offer from any political party but remarked that some parties are putting forward their proposals through media.
Shiv Sena and BJP had contested the recently-held assembly election as allies but they are yet to reach an agreement over the chief minister's post, thus delaying the formation of the new government in the state. Shiv Sena is putting pressure on the BJP to accept the 50-50 formula under which the chief minister's post will be rotated between the two parties for 2.5 years but the BJP is unwilling to bow down to Sena's pressure.
The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the state winning 105 seats in 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, while Shiv Sena finished at second place with 56 seats. The NCP managed to win 54 seats and the Congress emerged victorious on 44 seats.
