Maharashtra will have a Sena chief minister: Sanjay Raut

A day after his meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar sparked speculations of a new alliance to form the government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena senior leader Sanjay Raut on Friday (November 1) asserted that the next chief minister of the state will be from the Sena. The Sena is currently in the midst of a standoff with its ally the BJP over a 50:50 per cent sharing of power and the chief minister’s post.

Raut supplemented his statement with an acerbic tweet directed at the BJP through which he told the ally not to feed on arrogance as it has led to the fall of many mighty ones.

“Sahib, mat paliye ahankar ko itna, waqt ke saagar me kai sikandar doob gaye, (sir, don’t let your arrogance lead you to your fall),” he tweeted.

*साहिब…*
*मत पालिए, अहंकार को इतना,*
*वक़्त के सागर में कईं,*
*सिकन्दर डूब गए..!*

— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) November 1, 2019

Talking to reporters here, Raut said there have been no talks between the BJP and the Sena on government formation yet.

Also read: Let me be Maha CM until BJP-Sena iron out differences, farmer tells govt 

“If Shiv Sena decides, it’ll get the required numbers to form a stable government in the state. People have given the mandate to form the government on the basis of a 50-50 formula that was reached in front of the people of Maharashtra. They want a chief minister from the Shiv Sena,” Raut told ANI.

He, however, said that the Sena has not yet served an ultimatum to the BJP.

In the just-held state polls, the BJP won 105 seats, while the Sena got 56 in the 288-member Assembly. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is demanding the post of chief minister for 2.5 years and 50:50 division of portfolios. Both these demands have been rejected by the BJP which has insisted that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will continue to hold the post for the next five years.