Fadnavis elected leader; Mahayuti to form Govt
   Date :31-Oct-2019
 
MUMBAI :
 
DEVENDRA Fadnavis was on Wednesday elected as the leader of BJP legislative party. Amid the ongoing tussle between the BJP and Shiv Sena over power sharing in State, Fadnavis asserted that the alliance partners will form Government soon, after Shiv Sena softened its stand. Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar attended the meeting as the central observer of the party.
 
The development comes when the BJP and the Shiv Sena are yet to reach a consensus for the post of Chief Ministers. The Shiv Sena is demanding that power be shared between the two parties for 2.5 years each. The BJP, on the other hand, is consistent on its stand that Devendra Fadnavis will be the next Chief Minister of the State. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won an absolute majority in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls with the former emerging as the single largest party in the State with 105 seats in the 288 member Assembly.
 
The Shiv Sena, on the other hand, bagged 56 seats in the elections, the results of which were announced on October 24. SHIV SENA TO ELECT LEGISLATURE PARTY LEADERTODAY: Newly-elected MLAs of the Shiv Sena will on Thursday elect the legislature party leader in Maharashtra, days after the results of the State Assembly elections were declared. A meeting to this effect will be held at the Sena Bhawan in central Mumbai, a party leader said on Wednesday
 
 
Fadnavis dubs rumours of ‘alternate formulae’ being worked out to form the State Govt as ‘entertainment’
 
MUMBAI :
 
DEVENDRA Fadnavis on Wednesday dubbed the rumours of ‘alternate formulae’ being worked out to form the State Government as “entertainment”. “The mandate of voters of Maharashtra is for the ‘Mahayuti’ (BJP-Sena alliance). Hence the ‘Mahayuti’ is going to form its Government soon in the State,” Fadnavis said while addressing the newly-elected BJP MLAs at the State legislature party meeting. “Though there are several rumours floating around in the State about alternate formulae being worked out to form the Government, it is more of an entertainment,” he quipped.
 
Fadnavis pointed out that after 1995, no party in the State won more than 75 seats in polls to the 288-member Assembly, but the BJP bagged 122 seats in 2014 and 105 in the just concluded elections. While moving the motion to elect Fadnavis as leader of the House, BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said, “In the last five years, no faction in the BJP ever went to Delhi and requested to replace Fadnavis.” “There were protestsand agitations (inthe State)inlastfive years, but noonesaid Fadnavis should resign.This indicates his skills and acceptability across the State,” Patil said. Ever since results of the October 21 Assembly polls were out, Shiv Sena president Thackeray has been claiming that the 50:50 formula on sharing of power was “agreed upon” between himself, BJP President Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
 
However, Fadnavis on Tuesday denied that the Sena was ever assured the Chief Minister’s post for two-and-a-half years as part of the power sharing “formula”. In the recent State polls, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally. TheSena’stallyalsocamedownto56seats from 63 in 2014. A resurgent NCP won 54 and the Congress bagged 44 seats.