Amit Shah finalises power-sharing deal in Maharashtra

Union home minister Amit Shah met leaders of the three political parties in the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance on Thursday night, and discussed the power-sharing arrangement in the state. He also discussed the crucial formula for Cabinet berths to be distributed among the three parties in the coalition, which is expected to be sworn in early next week.
While the chief minister’s post will be held by the BJP, Shah is believed to have given the nod for two deputy chief ministers, one from each ally, the Shiv Sena and the NCP.
The BJP is expected to pick its leader for the CM’s post on Saturday in a meeting of MLAs in Mumbai. If Devendra Fadnavis is appointed chief minister, he is likely to retain the home portfolio, while finance is expected to go to the NCP. The Shinde-led Sena is expected to get UDD and PWD, according to leaders from the BJP. The two-hour long meeting, chaired by Shah at his Delhi residence, ended at midnight.
The leaders also discussed the sharing of Cabinet berths, distribution of portfolios, statutory boards and corporations, and the additional representation of the Shiv Sena and NCP in the Union government.
The allocation of portfolios is expected to be made on the basis of the number of seats won by each party in the Mahayuti alliance. The BJP is expected to get the lion’s share in the 43-member Cabinet, that is, 22 berths including the chief minister’s post. The Sena and NCP are expected to get 12 and 9 Cabinet berths, respectively.
According to party insiders, the Shiv Sena and NCP have demanded at least one berth each in the Union Cabinet. The NCP wants its senior leader Praful Patel to be a part of the Narendra Modi government, while the Sena too has staked its claim to a Cabinet ministry.
According to Shiv Sena leaders, Eknath Shinde, currently caretaker chief minister till the new government is sworn in, is expected to give up the post of deputy chief minister in favour of his son Shrikant Shinde, an MP from Kalyan. Shinde Senior, who served as chief minister of Maharashtra for two and a half years and would not want to serve as a deputy to Devendra Fadnavis, if the latter is appointed CM, is expected to opt for a berth in the Union Cabinet instead. He would also like to dedicate more time to the expansion of the party ahead of the civic elections in Mumbai.
Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said, “Knowing his nature, Shindesaheb may not take the deputy CM’s post and prefer to give his workers good posts. He has not taken a decision on what post he would prefer to have.”
Just when it was believed that the BJP had settled on Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister, a remark by former state BJP chief, Chandrakant Patil, has political circles abuzz. “Our top leadership has its own ways of assessing the political situation in Maharashtra and does all kinds of ‘experiments’,” he said. He was answering a question on Thursday, on the choice of chief minister which, he implied, could be a surprise and chosen on the lines of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
“The BJP always looks for new leadership and that is why the party does all these kinds of experiments. Whether allocating tickets, the party always looks for new leadership. I do not know if the party will take a decision in Maharashtra on the lines of the decision in other states. We accept what is decided by the top leadership of the party,” Patil said.
Hours earlier, the BJP’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde net Amit Shah in Delhi and briefed him on the caste composition in Maharashtra. According to BJP leaders, they discussed the repercussions of not having a Maratha chief minister (Eknath Shinde was a Maratha) and ways to balance it. “If there is no Maratha CM in the state, especially against the backdrop of the community’s ongoing stir for reservations, leaders of the community may get prominent Cabinet berths. They discussed this as well as the caste composition among elected MLAs and the representation that needs to be given to various communities,” a senior BJP leader said.
Next, the BJP is expected to appoint observers to visit Mumbai to seek the views of party MLAs on the post of chief minister. The observers will probably arrive in Mumbai on Saturday, while the new government is expected to be sworn in on Monday or latest by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar, who visited the NCP’s Delhi office in the afternoon, said there was no squabbling within the ruling alliance. “It is not true that we were fighting over certain portfolios, including finance and home. Our aim before the election was to bring the Mahayuti government to power in the state, and since that has been achieved, a decision on the division of portfolios will be taken amicably in our meeting tonight,” Pawar said ahead of the meeting.
Pawar had also met his party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel as a precursor to the meeting with Shah. The three top NCP leaders discussed their possible share in the power-sharing arrangement with their allies, as well as demands that would be tabled at the meeting with the BJP leadership. The NCP is reportedly keen on guardianship of districts such as Pune and Raigad, among others. Significantly, Devendra Fadnavis met with the NCP leaders at MP Sunil Tatkare’s residence in Delhi before the meeting with Shah.
Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said that next week, Shinde would embark on a state-wide tour as a ‘Ladka Bhau’ (Dear Brother) of all the ‘sisters’ who received ₹1,500 a month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. The campaign would be called ‘Bhau Aplya Bhetila’ (‘Brother comes to meet you’). Ratnagiri MLA and outgoing minister Uday Samant of the Shiv Sena said he was proud of Shinde for his stand on the chief minister’s post. “But that does not mean he has given up his claim to the top post,” he said.