Back-to-back poaching of ‘netas’ by MahaYuti Alliance partners BJP and Shiv Sena has led to extreme bitterness between both parties, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to intervene for a truce.
Only Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was present for the cabinet meeting yesterday and none of the ministers from his party attended. This caused speculation as to whether other Sena ministers had boycotted the cabinet with tacit blessings from their boss.
However, senior Sena ministers Dadaji Bhuse and Uday Samant clarified that the ministers had been delayed due to other meetings and Mumbai traffic, hence they could not attend the cabinet meeting.
A delegation of Shinde Sena ministers then met CM Fadnavis to raise the issue of BJP poaching leaders from Shiv Sena ahead of local municipal elections.
When they met Fadnavis, he told them that he would look into it, but the poaching had been started by Shiv Sena first, as it took a former BJP legislator into its fold.
“When you have made the beginning, our party will naturally respond,” Fadnavis told the delegation of Sena ministers.
In Kalyan-Dombivali, BJP has given entry to former Shinde Sena corporators and activists, weakening the party organisation in the parliamentary constituency of Dr Shrikant Shinde, son of DCM Eknath Shinde.
Similar activities are going on in the districts controlled by Sena ministers Dadaji Bhuse, Sanjay Shirsat, and Shambhu Raje Desai.
The issue was resolved after Fadnavis and Shinde told their respective parties not to poach anyone from Alliance partners.
Meanwhile, NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto on Wednesday said the reported friction between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena ministers indicates that the BJP no longer needs Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
Referring to reports that Shinde attended a cabinet meeting alone after his ministers allegedly stayed away, Crasto said the developments show Fadnavis has no respect for Shinde and that the ministers themselves have scant respect for the deputy CM. |
