Sena may have to share CM’s chair

MUMBAI: It Seems the Shiv Sena and the BJP have at last agreed to bury the hatchet and keep the alliance going. However, the deal might have come at a cost to the Sena, the younger member of the two-decade-old alliance.

According to top sources in the saffron camp, the BJP has extracted a promise of “rotating chief ministership” from the Sena, if the combine is elected to power. The development signals an end to the Sena’s hegemony in the coalition.

The present arrangement gives the Sena an upper hand in the alliance as it contests more seats — 171 as against 117 by the BJP — in the 288-member state legislature. According to sources, the BJP and the Shiv Sena would meet shortly to work out a strategy to jointly contest the state assembly elections to be held in 2009.

This would include a power sharing formula if voted to power. “The meeting will discuss the main change that offers both parties a chance to lead, as against the present system, which is tilted in the Sena’s favour,” a top BJP leader told ET.

This, however, has been denied by the Shiv Sena. On Tuesday, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray denied reports that they have arrived at a formula to share the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra with the BJP. The Thackeray scion stated in a press release on Tuesday: “There was no condition put forward by the BJP, nor was there acceptance of it by the Shiv Sena.” According to him, such news was being spread by vested interests.

But signals emanating from the saffron camp indicate that the proposed meeting, likely to take place in Mumbai after Ganeshotsav, would discuss and formalise the agreement. “The meeting will discuss things like which party should get chief ministership if the alliance comes to power, among other things,” a BJP leader said.

Many in the BJP think that the party that gets more number of seats should get the chief ministerial post for the first two-and-a-half years of the five-year term. Though the plan has been agreed upon in principle, the Shiv Sena is yet to give its formal nod to the proposal, sources said.

Nevertheless, both parties have vowed to sink their differences and contest the elections jointly. “It is the only way to recapture power in Maharashtra,” a Sena leader said.

The relationship between the saffron partners had become so strained in recent times that it had come to a virtual split when the Sena supported the UPA candidate, Pratibha Patil, for the President’s post instead of the NDA candidate, Bhaironsingh Shekhawat.

Though the BJP and the Sena managed to patch up after Uddhav Thackeray met senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Rajnath Singh in New Delhi, BJP leaders in the state, including Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari, feel that the cease-fire would last only if the Sena stops criticising the BJP and hobnobbing with the NCP.

“Getting the Sena to agree to the rotating chief ministership is an important step in ensuring longevity of the alliance,” a BJP leader said.