Mumbai: Two meetings held between Shiv Sena and BJP on Sunday night sparked off a possibility of Sena joining the state government. Sena is likely to get four Cabinet and five state ministries if the talks between the two go in the right direction. However, a meeting between both the parties’ leaders on Monday went on till late at night deciding if all the promised berths would be given to the Sena right away.
“The Sena, which was keen to get eight Cabinet and six state ministries has agreed on four Cabinet and five state ministries,” a senior Sena leader confirmed. However, the party wanted that all the ministers be sworn in along with the BJP’s new ministers during the oath-taking ceremony before the Assembly session on December 8, the leader said.
The leader added, “BJP wanted that two Cabinet and two state ministers be sworn in first and the remaining be included in the Cabinet in February next year.” Sena expressed its disagreement, as the party was concerned that the BJP would not live up to its word.
The first meeting was held late on Sunday night between CM Devendra Fadnavis, cooperative minister Chandrakant Patil, Sena leader Anil Desai and Milind Narvekar. On Monday morning, the same leaders met at the CM’s official residence Varsha where once again there was no consensus. So the leaders met on Monday night to discuss the issue further.
Another issue on which both the parties did not agree on were the portfolios. Sena wanted environment, health, industry, irrigation and home. They also said that the option of state excise and housing was acceptable.
However, the BJP does not want to give them important departments like housing and home. The BJP, it is believed, has agreed to give only state ministries for housing and home but not the Cabinet berths.
