As BJP and Shiv Sena are sorting differences over the formation of government in Maharashtra, a farmer from Beed district wrote a letter urging the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyar to make him the Chief Minister until the two parties have been resolved the row for power. Shrikanth Vishnu Gadale, a farmer from Kej Taluka wrote a letter submitted to the collector of Beed district on Thursday. In the letter, Gadale expressed the agrarian crisis that the farmers in Maharashtra are currently facing and he wants to be the CM because the state needs governance for the betterment of the farmers.
He wrote in the letter, "The Shiv Sena and the BJP are yet to resolve their issue regarding the post of Chief Minister which was raised after the 2019 assembly election results. "Natural calamities (unseasonal rains) have hampered ready-to-harvest crops in the state. The farmers are tense over these calamities. At a time when farmers are suffering, the Shiv Sena and the BJP are unable to resolve the issue of holding the Chief Minister's post. Hence, till the issue is resolved, the government should hand over the responsibility of the Chief Minister's post to me. I will solve the problems of farmers and give them justice," Gadale said.
The farmer also wrote that if the administration does not take note of his letter, he would protest through "democratic means". The BJP Shivsena have been at loggerheads ever since their alliance won a majority during the Maharashtra Assembly Poll. BJP was the single largest party with 105 seats and Shiv Sena won 56 seats. Shiv Sena is adamant about the 50:50 formula according to which the five-year term is split between the two parties but BJP wants Devendra Fadnavis to continue the post for all five years.
BJP-Sena tussle for power
The love-hate relationship between BJP and Shiv Sena is in the open yet again. The old allies, after winning the Assembly elections together, are fighting over the formation of the government, with Shiv Sena insisting on rotational Chief Ministership, a condition not acceptable to BJP. On Tuesday, the tussle took a new turn when Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut threatened to explore "other options", despite which BJP leader Devendra Fadanvis asserted that he would be the Chief Minister for an entire 5-year period.
BJP's trouble with Sena is age-old, but this time the discourse has been a notch shriller. This public spat dates back to the pre-2019 general election when "Saamna", the party mouthpiece wrote editorials criticizing the Modi government. The reason the pre-poll alliance announcement before the general election between the two parties got delayed because Sena wanted an assurance on Maharashtra polls as well. Now, the Sena is reminding BJP of its "agreement" and alleging it of "stooping" to a new low.
Sena, which won 56 seats in the Assembly polls, claimed its tally now reached 61 with the support of five more MLAs. This is regardless of the offers from Congress and NCP that will be willing to let go off the Chief Ministers post to the Sena, a first in many years. Meanwhile, BJP which has 105 seats in the 288-member House isn't sitting idle either. Meanwhile, two Independent MLAs — Ravi Rana (Badnera in Amravati district) and Kishor Jorgewar (Chandrapur) have pledged their support to the BJP. But in the face of a Sena that is emboldened with support from Congress, NCP and a fair share of independents, the BJP's ally trouble with Aditya Thackeray's party is not letting it sit comfortably.
