Mumbai, Nov 19 A day after most Shiv Sena Ministers in the BJP-led Mahayuti government skipped a cabinet meeting, Shiv Sena(UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey on Wednesday claimed that a few ministers and around 20 MLAs from the ruling faction were in touch with the party.
Speaking to IANS, Anand Dubey said, “There is an old saying: if you sow a babool tree, you cannot expect to eat mangoes. The BJP colluded with Eknath Shinde to bring down our government. The impact of that betrayal was visible in yesterday’s cabinet meeting, where more than half a dozen ministers were absent due to resentment.”
He added that there is growing friction within the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra.
“The BJP has a double-engine government and agencies like the ED and CBI with them. This has weakened the Shiv Sena faction. A major rift is expected. According to our sources, a few ministers and 20 MLAs from the Shiv Sena faction are in touch with us. However, we are not making any decisions yet because it is important to verify their loyalty this time. Ahead of the municipal elections, this widening rift is becoming clearer. The message going out to the people is that those who wrong others ultimately face consequences," he told IANS.
Dubey said that the government may still have the numbers, but internal tensions remain high.
"Even if Eknath Shinde’s MLAs leave, Ajit Pawar is still part of the alliance. But the relationship between Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis is not as bitter as the one between Shinde and Fadnavis. Eknath Shinde’s sole ambition is to remove Fadnavis and become Chief Minister, but Fadnavis will never let that happen. This is why Shinde frequently goes to Delhi to meet Amit Shah and tries to create his own separate front,” he said.
On social media, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday criticised the alliance, calling the ministers’ absence from the cabinet meeting “worrisome”. He claimed that the Shinde Sena skipped the meeting because it was upset with the BJP over seat allocation in the elections and feared that the party was attempting to split their faction.
“But boycotting the cabinet meeting for their selfish interests is an insult to Maharashtra and its people,” Aaditya Thackeray had said.
“Cabinet meetings are meant to address people’s issues, not manage petty internal disputes,” he said.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra comprises the BJP, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
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