 "Live: BJP, Sena say talks moving in a positive direction as Maha deadlock continues")
8.39 pm: Talks with BJP will continue, says Shiv Sena As the uncertainty over whether former ally Shiv Sena would join the BJP government in Maharashtra persists, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said it was confident that “the talks between the two parties will continue in a positive manner”, PTI reported. “Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had detailed discussion with BJP leaders Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley yesterday,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said here. “I am sure Sena and BJP representatives here will have positive talks,” she added. “Whatever decisions that are required to be taken for the development of Maharashtra will be taken,” she said, adding, “right now, I cannot say what type of participation we will have (in the government). The decision on this would be taken by Uddhav Thackeray.” Meanwhile, BJP today said it was sure of having the numbers to win the trust vote during the special session of the Assembly in the second week of this month. “We will have the required number to win trust vote,” senior minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters. “Talks with Sena have been positive,” he added. CNN-IBN reported that Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also said that talks with Shiv Sena were moving in a positive direction and that all efforts were being made to include Sena in the cabinet. 6.46 pm: Sena leaders meet to discuss future strategy Shiv Sena leaders met at party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence ‘Matoshree’ in Mumbai to take a call on the party’s future strategy, a day after Devendra Fadnavis took charge as Maharashtra CM,
DNA reported
. “Some leaders and MLA’s of Shiv Sena came to Matoshree today for an unofficial meeting. Any development that has taken place will be informed by Uddhav Thackeray and the leaders of the BJP soon,” Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gore was quoted as saying in the
report
. Updates for 1 November begin here 7.13 pm: CM Devendra Fadnavis promises efficiency, transparency after being sworn-in Hours after being sworn-in as the first BJP Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis during a press conference at the Mantralaya, made a first announcement of sorts saying that he would form a citizens charter in the state. He also said, “Right to service is one of my key objectives. I will ensure transparency during my tenure.” Refering perhaps to the previous governments, he said, “Efficiency and transparency go hand in hand. However when we had efficiency we did not have transparency. I promise both.” He also said he had asked every ministry to make presentations of policy decisions and the reason behind them. 6.48 pm: Amit Shah, Uddhav Thackeray hold talks after Fadnavis’ swearing-in Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, who attended the swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis government following a last-minute call from Amit Shah, held talks with the BJP President after the event. It was not known what transpired at the brief meeting that took place in the Wankhede Stadium premises. Shah had reached out to a sulking Shiv Sena Chief a day after the party announced its decision to boycott the ceremony on account of “constant humiliation” by BJP over government formation. “Sena has missed the bus. I don’t know due to whom,” senior Sena leader and former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said after the event. -PTI 4.58 pm: Fadnavis now Maha CM, Uddhav all smiles as he greets PM Modi Uddhav Thackeray was all smiles as he shook hands with PM Narendra Modi on the dais at Wankhede stadium. Does this mean it is a patch up between the BJP and the Shiv Sena? Or was this just mere pleasantries? With the swearing-in done, Modi walked around the dais with folded hands as each member of the Maharashtra cabinet come and greet him. Despite Devendra Fadnavis being the man of the hour, the huddle was around the prime minister. Other leaders of states too greeted PM Modi. An eager Devendra Fadnavis met his supporters and interacted with them after the oath-taking ceremony got over. Celebrations were reported all across Mumbai after the ceremony at Wankhede got over. 4.45 pm: Pankaja Munde takes oath, inducted into BJP’s Maharashtra cabinet Pankaja Munde takes her oath and is inducted into the Maharashtra cabinet. As her name was announced, the crowd broke into loud cheers. The cheering went louder every time she said Pankaja ‘Gopinath’ Munde. She won the elections from the Parli assembly constituency. She won a massive number of sympathy votes after her father Gopinath Munde’s untimely and sudden death. 4.35 pm: Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde take oath After Fadnavis Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vinod Tawde take their oaths. Pankaja Munde, Prakash Mehta, Vishnu Sawra, and Chandrakant Patil are supposed to be inducted into the cabinet as well. Also, television visuals show Uddhav Thackeray was present in the crowd. 4.30 pm: Devendra Fadnavis sworn-in as first BJP CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis was administered his oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister amid massive cheering from the crowd present at the Wankhede stadium. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah was present on the dais during this occasion. 4.25 pm: Crowds cheer on as Devendra Fadnavis arrives on stage Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah have arrived for the ceremony and are present on the dais along with Venkaiah Naidu. A very happy Devendra Fadnavis, with his wife by his side, waved as the crowds cheer on. 3.22 pm: Maharashtra BJP govt swearing-in ceremony begins in Wankhede Stadium The grand swearing-in ceremony has already begun at the Wankheded stadium. Television visuals showed that diginitaries have started to arrive. Live music was playing on stage to keep the guests entertained. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis is yet to arrive. 3.10 pm: After Amit Shah’s invite, Uddhav to attend Fadnavis’ swearing-in After saying on Thursday that he and his party workers would boycott Devendra Fadnavis’ grand swearing-in ceremony, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has now said that he will be attending the mega event. Several television channels had reported that Amit Shah and Fadnavis himself had given Uddhav Thackeray a call to invite him to the ceremony. However, does this mean that the Sena and the BJP are on a route to reconciliation? Only time will tell. 2.19 pm: Amit Shah calls on Uddhav, invites him to the swearing-in at Wankhede After enough back and forth, BJP president Amit Shah and CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis on Friday called upon Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and extended an invitation to him for the swearing-in ceremony on Friday evening, reports confirmed Sources speaking to Headlines Today said, Shah gave a last-minute call to the Shiv Sena chief and urged him to be a part of Fadnavis’ swearing-in ceremony. According to CNN IBN, Uddhav Thackeray in all likelihood may attend the event, but nothing has been confirmed as of now. It is not yet certain what is conspiring between the two former allies, but the sources said that BJP has surely promised something big to Uddhav-led Shiv Sena for it to even consider attending the swearing-in. Till Friday morning, there were reports of Shiv Sena planning to sit as the opposition. 12.15 pm: Uddhav gives Fadnavis’ lavish swearing-in ceremony a miss Shiv Sena has not officially announced whether they are planning to sit in opposition or not but the party has clearly hinted that they will not be part of the first BJP government in Maharashtra. On Thursday, Shiv Sena decided to keep away from CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis’ swearing-in ceremony at the Wankhede stadium. Party leader Anil Desai asserted that none of the party leaders or Shiv Sena MLAs will be part of the event. The oath taking ceremony is scheduled for 6.00 pm on Friday.
A report in The Times of India said
, that if Uddhav Thackeray decides not to ally with the BJP, the Fadnavis government will face the 63-strong Sena legislature party in the assembly for the next five years. This could also mark a new era in history of Maharashtra politics. Although, the TOI report also said that there was divide within Sena leaders as a few indicated hope that a last-minute patchup formula could be hammered out by Friday. Meanwhile, questions were being raised at the BJP throwing a lavish “party” for the CM-designate. Fadnavis’ swearing-in ceremony is being touted as the biggest ever of its kind. The other lavish oath taking ceremony which comes close to this was Narendra Modi’s swearing-in as the Prime Minister earlier this year. [caption id=“attachment_1781623” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]
Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] But eyebrows were raised over the amount of money spent on the event when Maharashtra has been languishing under debt. According to a report in Mid-Day, a state protocol department official said that this was the first time that Maharashtra was witnessing such a grand ceremony with thousand people attending it. According to rules, except the governor and the CM-designate noone else occupies a chair on the stage. For Fadnavis’ swearing-in will have other leaders also in the august setting. “Even when PM Modi was sworn in, it was only President Pranab Mukherjee who was at the centre stage,” an official told Mid-Day. State protocol department officials said they tried hard to convince the party that such practices are not followed in oath-taking ceremonies. “The function, in any case, is going to cost a few crores, at a time when the state is overburdened with a loan of nearly Rs 3 lakh crore,” an official told Mid-Day. Even though the department suggested that the ceremony be held on Sunday, in order to avoid traffic issues, the party insisted on holding it on a Friday. Interestingly, Shiv Sena came to the rescue of BJP for holding a lavish ceremony for the CM-designate. The leaders were quoted as saying that this would “wash away the sins” of NCP-Congress government. In an editoral in the party mouthpiece Saamna, the party wrote: “You (Congress and NCP) have looted Maharashtra in your 15-year-rule and siphoned off thousands of crores of public money. If you are now speaking about a huge amount of money being spent on the oath-taking ceremony, it is nothing but hilarious.” “Maharashtra is saddled with a debt of Rs. 3.5 lakh crore. Why this huge debt? The debt is the result of the (Congress-NCP) coalition government of the last 15 years. Today’s ceremony is to wash off the sins committed by them. Organising this ceremony will incur some costs. Since it marks the end of the ego and corruption of the previous government, people will not mind the cost,” it said. Sharad Pawar’s NCP, which has already extended outside support to the BJP, had on Thursday lashed out at the saffron party for holding a mega swearing-in ceremony for Fadnavis. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik had tweeted: “A party with a difference, hence the most lavish oath-taking ceremony in the history of Maharashtra government formation.” The new chief minister should ensure that industrialists who reside in Maharashtra play their part in the state’s development and create job opportunities for people, the Sena said. – 7.13 pm: We have constantly been humiliated by the BJP, says Shiv Sena Amidst the uncertainty over Shiv Sena’s role in the formation of the new government in Maharashtra, the party on Thursday said its leaders would not attend chief minister-designate Devendra Fadnavis’ swearing-in here tomorrow. “We have constantly been humiliated by the BJP, which has not gone down well with our MLAs. As our MLAs feel that BJP did not give us due respect, why should we attend the oath-taking ceremony?” Sena MP Vinayak Raut said here. Raut was talking to reporters after meeting the Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. When asked if the scheduled meeting of Shiv Sena and BJP leaders for discussing possible alliance had been called off, Raut said no talks had been scheduled, so there was no question of cancellation. 4.42 pm: Denied ministries, Uddhav asks Sena workers to boycott Fadnavis’ swearing-in After BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Thursday said that no Shiv Sena leader would be inducted into the Maharshtra cabinet on Friday, Uddhav Thackeray will reportedly boycott Devendra Fadnavis’ swearing-in. Earlier in the day Rudy was quoted by PTI as saying, “It seems unlikely that any Shiv Sena minister will be sworn in tomorrow. Talks with Sena are on in an amicable atmosphere for a possible tie-up in Maharashtra but there has been no outcome yet,” Rudy. Maintaining that BJP was looking forward to a decision soon, he said, “This may not happen tomorrow.” Rudy said BJP has accepted NCP’s offer of outside support in the larger interest of development of Maharashtra. “Any political group, formation or individual ready to extend unconditional support to the BJP government in the larger interest of development of Maharashtra will certainly be welcome without reservations,” he said. After this television reports quoted sources as saying that Uddhav Thackeray won’t be present for the swearing-in and has also asked Sena workers not to attend the event. 3.30 pm: Will Sena join BJP govt? Uddhav to decide today The Shiv Sena will meet today to decide whether they will be a part of the Devendra Fadnavis’ BJP government in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MLAs will meet at their party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence Matoshree this evening to take a final call on whether they will accept the final offer made by the BJP. Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn-in as chief minister on Friday evening at a lavish function in Mumbai where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in attendance. The BJP has already made it clear that tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony will see only BJP MLAs take oath and no alliance partner will be a part of the new cabinet. The Shiv Sena while earlier dissing the BJP and terming the ‘Modi wave’ as mere froth, has now turned around and praised that party saying the combination of Devendra-Narendra will bring ‘achche din’ to the state. – 8.34 pm: Maharashtra Governor accepts Fadnavis’ claim to form govt, swearing-in on Friday The Governor of Maharashtra has now accepted the letter saying Devendra Fadnavis is the BJP MLA who will be sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister. He has invited Fadnavis for the swearing in on 31 October (Friday). The BJP would also have to prove its majority in the Assembly withinn 15 days of the swearing in. 6.46 pm: Devendra Fadnavis meets Maharashtra governor After being elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party Devendra Fadnavis along with all the elected BJP MLAs met the Maharashtra governor to stake claim to form government in the state. 6.27 pm: Want to take Sena along in forming Maha govt, says BJP’s JP Nadda After the BJP MLAs meet, party leader JP Nadda has said that they want to take the Shiv Sena along when they form government, according to Firstpost reporter Vishwas Waghmode. “We want to take Shiv Sena along when we form government. We will hold a BJP core committee meeting and hopefully something positive will come out of that,” Nadda said. According to BJP leader it will form a cabinet of 22 minister of which 5 posts will be given to the Shiv Sena. 5.19 pm: Privileged to be Maharashtra CM, says Devendra Fadnavis After being unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party Devendra Fadnavis thanked leader from across the party. “I am grateful to Prime Minister Modi, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah for electing me as the new CM,” said and added, " I’m privileged to be Maharashtra CM." Fadnavis assured the people of Maharashtra that it would be a people’s government. “We will follow whatever Ambedkar said in the Constitution,” he said and said, “We will follow the same path as Modi. It will be a path of inclusiveness, a path of transparency.” “The way Modi brought good governance in India, I will also try and bring good governance and development in Maharashtra,” Fadnavis said. 4.55 pm: He is patient, has clean image, says Devendra Fadnavis’ wife After Devendra Fadnavis was elected to be the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, his wife said that he had been very patient. “He has been patient and has maintained a clean image. Also he has a visionary approach,” said Amruta Fadnavis. Meanwhile his mother Sarita Fadnavis was quoted by ANI as saying, “He has worked a lot since the time he started.” 4.45 pm: Devendra Fadnavis unanimously elected leader of Maha state legislature, says BJP BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that all elected BJP MLAs and senior BJP leaders had unanimously chosen Devendra Fadnavis as the leader of the legislative party in Maharashtra. [caption id=“attachment_1776647” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Devendra Fadnavis. Sachin Gokhale/Firstpost[/caption] Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “All the party leaders have unanimously chosen Fadnavis as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.” “Fadnavis also received the support of BJP party members like Pankaja Munde and Eknath Khadse,” he said. Rudy said that Fadnavis will now, along with elected BJP MLAs, go to the Governor and stake claim of government. 4.33 pm: It’s official, Devendra Fadnavis is Maharashtra CM According to Television reports, it is official that Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP is Maharashtra chief minister. Fadnavis was the front runner for the CM’s post and will be the first BJP CM in Maharashtra. Reports said that Eknath Khadse proposed Fadnavis’ name as the Maharashtra CM. According to NDTV reports the swearing-in will be on Friday. 4.11 pm: BJP MLAs meet begins, CM elect to stake claim at 6 pm BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy before the party MLAs meet said that leaders Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda had arrived in the Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai. He said, “Our leaders have arrived. We will be choosing our CM, it will be a BJP CM. The CM elect will meet the governor at 6 pm” Rudy said. 2.00 pm: Rajnath, Nadda arrive in Mumbai to finalise BJP govt Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party leader JP Nadda arrived in Mumbai this afternoon as observers at the party’s legislative members meeting. Denying any rift within the party, Singh told reporters outside Mumbai airport that there exists no infighting among its leaders. “We’re the only party that since its foundation has not had any division.” Post the meeting, where Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be chosen as the CM-elect, Rajnath Singh could have a meeting with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to finalise whether they want to be a part of the government or not. 11. 57 am: Home Minister Rajnath Singh leaves for Mumbai Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has left Delhi for Mumbai to finalise government formation in Maharashtra. The newly-elected BJP MLAs will meet at 4 pm this evening to finalise their legislative leader who in all probability will be its state party chief Devendra Fadnavis. Along with Rajnath, party leader JP Nadda will also be visiting the state as party observer.
07.10 am: BJP MLAs to meet today, elect legislative leader After a long Diwali break, newly-elected BJP MLAs in Maharashtra will meet to elect their legislative party leader who will then go on to become the chief minister of the state. In all probability, the meeting at 4 pm will see state BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis emerge as the consensus choice, although, since Sunday, there has been a demand to allow a BJP leader from North Maharashtra to become CM. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was also in the race, but he has now clarified that he does not want to return to state politics and is happy with his role at the Centre. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda are expected to arrive in the state today and they will act as observers at the legislative meeting. Post the meeting, the BJP MLAs will visit Maharashtra Governor CV Rao and stake claim to form government. The BJP already has the support of several independent and small parties as well as the unconditional outside support by the NCP. As far as the Shiv Sena is concerned, the party has now offered to support any BJP leader as the next CM of the state as long as they work for its growth. Last week, the Sena had several conditions for its support but the BJP outright rejected it saying they would be compensated as per the number of seats they have. Updates for 27 October end 11.10 am: ‘NCP will abstain if Maharashtra govt undergoes trust vote’ In a clear indication that it will support the BJP government in the state, the NCP today said it will abstain from the House if the Governor seeks a trust vote from the yet to be formed BJP government. “If Shiv Sena joins the government, there will be no problem. We will not be part of the government but do not want to create instability by voting against a minority government. So NCP will abstain if there is voting,” NCP spokesman Nawab Malik told PTI. 8.00 am: Rajnath to visit Mumbai on Tuesday, finalise new CM Home Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh will travel to Mumbai on Tuesday to chair a meeting of BJP legislature party to elect its leader, who will lead the party’s government in Maharashtra. “The Home Minister will visit Mumbai on October 28,” sources close to him said. Singh will visit Mumbai as BJP observer, along with party general secretary and new in-charge of party affairs in the state J P Nadda, to elect the leader of the BJP legislature party. Singh and Nadda were supposed to visit Mumbai on 20 October, a day after the results of the Assembly elections were out, as part of the decision of the BJP Parliamentary Party but they decided to defer the tour. - PTI Updates for 26 October end 6:22 pm: BJP MLAs to meet on Oct 28 to elect Maharashtra CM Maharashtra BJP Legislature Party will meet on Tuesday to elect their leader, paving the way for him to meet Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and stake claim to form the government. The meeting to elect the Legislature Party Leader and the Chief Minister designate will be held at 11 am at Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday (October 28), senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse told reporters here today. Earlier, Khadse, Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis and senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde had met to discuss preparations for government formation. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP in-charge of Maharashtra J P Nadda would attend Tuesday’s meeting as observers. The BJP legislature party leader would meet Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to stake claim to form the state government, he said. “We will prove our majority in the house if the Governor desires,” he said. BJP, which has emerged as the single largest party in the elections held for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, winning 122 seats, has already been offered unconditional outside support by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which won 41 seats. With its 63 MLAs, Shiv Sena is the second largest party in the House. 6:08pm: Modi’s high tea party ends, MPs leave Narendra Modi’s high tea party that started about two hours ago just ended. NDA MPs are spotted coming out of 7RCR. Updates on what all has been discussed in the high tea party expected soon. 5:43 pm: BJP party meet on 28 Oct to decide Maha CM According to tv reports BJP party members will meet on 28 October to decide the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. 4:08 pm: PM Modi hosts high tea party, Shiv Sena MPs arrive The high tea party hosted by Modi for NDA MPs begins at 7RCR. The guests are arriving one by one. Reportedly, Sena MPs including Anant Geete will also attend the meet. It is a post Diwali celebratory meet where Arun Jaitley is likely to brief the MPs on Jan Dhan Yojana. Reportedly, Gadkari, Harsh Vardhan and Naidu will also breif the MPs. Minimum pension scheme likely to be discussed. Briefing on gas and health scheme likely to be discussed as well. 3.05 pm: Senior BJP leaders to educate NDA MPs at tea party? According to latest reports, senior BJP leaders will give presentation and educate NDA MPs on various issues, which would include Clean India Campaign. The high tea hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his MPs is being keenly watched for its guest list. All Shiv Sena MPs will be participating in the event but party chief Uddhav Thackeray is giving the occasion a miss. Meanwhile, Headlines Today reported that oath taking ceremony for new Maharashtra chief minister will be held on 30 October. Party legislators are planning to meet on Tuesday. The TV channel in its report said that the BJP is planning to go ahead with a minority government if Shiv Sena does not bow. Latest reports which just came in said that it is most likely that Shiv Sena may get women and child development and forest environment ministries. Reports added that BJP was in favour of a small cabinet. 11.05 am: PM to host high-tea for NDA MPs, Uddhav to give it a miss Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday evening host a high tea for all NDA MPs at his residence in the national capital. This would be the first time when all the MPs of NDA will come together since the BJP led-government assumed office. An invitation was extended to all allies including Shiv Sena MPs inspite of the alliance in Maharashtra being recently called off before the Assembly elections. They are all expected to be present including lone Sena minister in the government, Anant Geethe. [caption id=“attachment_1772935” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Reuters[/caption] Coming to the rescue of their chief Uddhav Thackeray and his participation in the ‘Diwali Milan’, Shiv Sena clarified that since the event was only for the MPs belonging to the NDA, Uddhav won’t be going. On the condition of anonymity, a senior Sena leader told PTI, “The event that the PM is hosting is only for the MPs of NDA partners. When Uddhavji is not an MP, where is the question of him being invited? This is not even a question worth asking.” Updates for 25 October end 7.11 pm: Uddhav Thackeray not meeting PM Modi, says Shiv Sena Terming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in Mumbai on Saturday as apolitical, Shiv Sena said party president Uddhav Thackeray was not scheduled to meet him in Mumbai or even in the national capital later, and talks for government formation would start only on Monday. “The Prime Minister has come to Mumbai only to inaugurate a hospital. At a time when the PM has come for a social cause, there will be no political talks. Talks will start only from Monday,” Shiv Sena MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Vinayak Raut told reporters in Mumbai, after meeting Thackeray at his residence. When asked if Thackeray was scheduled to meet Modi in Delhi next week, Raut said no meeting had been scheduled. “We haven’t had a talk with BJP regarding Modi’s (possible) meeting with Uddhav Thackeray. For now, I can only say that all the Sena MPs will be attending the Diwali dinner (organised by the Prime Minister) tomorrow,” Raut said. 3.15 pm: Modi, Uddhav to attend same event but will they talks about tie-ups? Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to inaugurate that Sir Hurkisondas Nurrotumdas Hospital in Mumbai on Saturday. The even assumes significance because Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is also an invitee to the event. Given the stalement between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over their alliance in Maharashtra, there is much speculation on whether the leaders of the two parties would meet and talk about government formation in the state. 3.07 pm: Gadkari meets RSS’ Bhagwat fueling fresh speculations on Maha CM post Fuelling fresh speculation in political circles, union Minister for Shipping and Transport Nitin Gadkari called on Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on Saturday. Late Friday night, the Bharatiya Janata Party state president and prime contender for the post of the next Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had met Bhagwat. Sources in tbe BJP claimed ignorance of what transpired in both the meetings, coming as did barely hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mumbai later in the day, but quipped that they may have gone to “wish Happy Diwali”. Updates for 24 October end 7.30 pm: Sena MPs to attend PM’s high tea, Uddhav not going Amid signs of a rapprochement, all Shiv Sena MPs will attend the high tea being hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Sunday for NDA MPs. This development came as earlier on Friday RPI leader Ramdas Athawale said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was “very keen” on forming a government with BJP in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena, however, sought to clear the confusion over Uddhav Thackeray’s participation, saying since the event was only for the MPs belonging to the Centre’s ruling alliance, their leader will not go. “I will attend it and so will all Sena MPs,” Shiv Sena’s lone member in the Narendra Modi government Anant Geete told PTI. A senior Sena leader on condition of anonymity said that Uddhav does not need a dinner invitation to meet Prime Minister Modi. “If Uddhavji wants to meet PM Modi, he will directly go and meet him alone. Why should he need a dinner invite to meet him?” the Sena leader said. 3.40 pm: NDA allies not invited to PM’s dinner Leaders of NDA allies have not been sent out invitations to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Diwali dinner at his official residence, CNN-IBN reports, quoting sources. The invite is only to MPs who are from parties that are a part of the NDA alliance. If true, the move comes as a set-back to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who was reportedly scheduled to attend the meeting and cement ties with the top BJP leadership over government formation in Maharashtra. 01.25 pm: Athawale says Uddhav keen on joining BJP govt RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawale today said that the Shiv Sena is keen on allying with the BJP to form government in the state. “Shiv Sena chief is keen on forming government with the BJP,” Athawale told news channels this morning. While the Shiv Sena is yet to publicly announce that it wants to be a part of the government, it has made it more than obvious with senior party leaders flying to Delhi to meet the top leadership of the BJP and work out a suitable deal. The BJP, on its part, has decided to not take any such decision before 26 October, when party leader Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra in-charge JP Nadda will visit Mumbai. 07.30 am: Gadkari gives in, Fadnavis to be Maharashtra CM After a show of strength, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Diwali seemed to relent and said that he wasn’t in the running for the post of chief minister in Maharashtra and that he had no differences with potential chief ministerial designate, Devendra Fadnavis. After two meetings with the head of the BJP’s Maharashtra unit, Gadkari said he was instrumental in bringing Fadnavis into politics. “We have no differences. My political guru is Devendra’s father Ganghadharrao Fadnavis who was an MLC while I was instrumental in bringing Devendra into politics,” Gadkari said after Fadnavis called on him at his residence in Mahal area in the morning. “I am happy in Delhi. Fadnavis is my colleague and came to meet me on Diwali,” Gadkari told reporters when asked whether he intends to return to state politics. According to sources quoted by PTI, the closed door meeting between Gadkari and Fadnavis apparently sealed the deal in favour of the BJP state unit chief. Though Fadnavis has maintained that his meeting with Gadkari was to extend Diwali greetings, the duo met again at BJP’s regional office in Dhantoli area, with some BJP leaders and office-bearers in attendance, in late afternoon. PTI quoted sources as saying that the central leadership of the party had engineered the meeting in order to quell any speculation about a public feud between the two leaders. Leaders present at the Dhantoli office, where Gadkari and Fadnavis stayed for some 15 minutes for Laxmi Pujan, said that they got clear indications that Fadnavis will emerge as a consensus choice for the coveted post. Updates for 23 October end 3.09 pm: BJP MLA volunteers to vacate seat for Gadkari; wants him as CM Amid talk that BJP Maharashtra unit chief Devendra Fadnavis could be party’s chief ministerial choice, Nagpur-East MLA Krishna Khopde today offered to quit and vacate his seat to pave way for his mentor Nitin Gadkari, after voices grew louder on bringing back the Union Minister to the state to don the mantle. Khopde, a second term MLA, told PTI that he was willing to resign for Gadkari from his constituency. When contacted over the turn of events, Phadanvis however, remained tight-lipped and made no comments. Gadkari had last night said that he is ready to accept any responsibility given to him by the party’s central leadership. About 39 BJP MLAs all from Vidarbha region had met Gadkari at his residence here yesterday and demanded that he be made the state’s Chief Minister. 11.30 am: Sena scrambles to protect treasure chest and Cabinet post as BJP set to go alone While the BJP is expected to go alone and form a minority government with the backing of smaller parties and the outside support of the NCP, the Shiv Sena, on its part, is trying its best to portray that it has done the best it could to rework the alliance, our correspondent Vishwas Waghmode reports. Among the reasons why the Sena is looking at making clear its stand is one, to protect its coffers at the country’s richest municipal body - the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation - which it currently governs. Second, the Sena would want to ensure that its alliance at the Centre does not end and its current MP Anant Geete, who is minister for Heavy Industries, continues to hold the post. 09. 40 am: Gadkari as Maharashtra CM was pre-planned? When BJP leader Nitin Gadkari landed in Nagpur on Tuesday, 44 of the newly elected MLAs were already gathered at his residence urging him to take over the reigns on the state and lead the government. What’s interesting, though, is that these MLAs were the ones who had earlier backed state party chief Devendra Fadnavis for the top post. While Gadkari has repeatedly denied that he will enter state politics and was enjoying his role as Union minister, this article in the Indian Express reports that Gadkari had his close aide Sudhir Mungantiwar meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, perhaps in a bid to cement his claim. It further quotes BJP sources as saying: “Gadkari has sensed that the central leadership is keen on picking Fadvavis as the CM. So he is trying to reassert his political might in the state.” 08.45 am: Sonia reviews poll debacle, holds one on one meet with state leaders After its poll debacle, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday held individual meetings with state party leaders many of whom where disgruntled with the manner in which former CM Prithviraj Chavan campaigned for the party.
Speaking to The Indian Express,
a Congress leader said top party leaders got tied up in their own constituencies. “It was a miserable campaign. We were never really in a race.” The Congress party is already considering a rejig in the state leadership and with rising complaints against Chavan by senior leaders including former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde, his job could well be on the line, the daily further reports. 07.15 am: With an unrelenting BJP, Uddhav heads to Delhi The BJP, it appears, has managed to play its cards really well. Rejecting the Sena’s conditions of equal cabinet berths in the Maharashtra Assembly and, in a way, threatening to go ahead with a minority government, the Amit Shah-led party has managed to put enough pressure on the Shiv Sena, forcing its leader Uddhav Thackeray to head for New Delhi. According
to this Times of India report
, Uddhav had on Tuesday sent party leaders Subhash Desai and Anil Desai to the national capital to hold talks with the top BJP leadership. However,Uddhav himself is expected to head north this week and seek a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP, though, has maintained that it will not take any decision before Diwali. Updates for 22 October end 8.14 pm: Manohar Lal Khattar to be sworn-in as Haryana CM on 26 October Newly-appointed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will be sworn-in when he takes oath of office on 26 October. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that the oath taking ceremony will be held at around 11 am on 26 October at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, Haryana, according to this DNA report. 8.05 pm: Section of BJP wants Nitin Gadkari as Maharashtra CM Even as closed-door party meetings continue over the choice of chief ministerial candidate in Maharashtra, former state BJP president Sudhir Mungantiwar has pitched for Nitin Gadkari for the post. “We are surprised that Gadkari has said he doesn’t want to be in the state. We all demand, infact, the party here in Maharashtra wants Gadkari to be CM,” Mungantiwar told CNN-IBN. Not just Mungantiwar, a section of BJP leaders, according to NDTV want Gadkari as CM. 1.23 pm: BJP appoints Khattar as Haryana chief minister On Tuesday, BJP appointed RSS leader and Modi’s old aide Manohar Lal Khattar as the firts not-Jat chief minister of Haryana in the past 2 decades. Earlier, BJP leaders met with the MLAs to decide on the chief ministerial post. BJP pressed for a non-Jat CM given the crucial support they received from non-Jat voters in the state. Khattar is being preferred by the party because of his clean image and also for his commitment towards the part. The 60-year-old MLA from Karnal is a first time legislator. 1.07 pm: BJP to announce next Maharashtra CM on 26th? Reports said that BJP might announce the next chief minister of Maharashtra on 26 October. The party on Tuesday said the Maharashtra government will be formed after Diwali.
“There is little chance of any developments taking place before Diwali. All action will happen only afterwards,” party sources told PTI. “The BJP legislature party leader would be elected only after Diwali. Central observer Rajnath Singh will be in Mumbai after Diwali and the new leader, who will be sworn in as chief minister, will be elected in his presence,” they added. Even as suspense continued over the composition of the government in Maharashtra, BJP general secretary incharge of Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Monday had said being the single largest party it will stake claim to form government even before cobbling together a majority. 1.00 pm: Saamna keeps taunting us, says BJP Reiterating its older position, BJP on Tuesday said Shiv Sena should accept that the former is the big brother and behave accordingly. The party accused the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena of mocking them in their editorial mouthpiece Saamna. “They keep taunting us.” The BJP is keeping their options open in Maharashtra, “The Sena is our natural ally. We would prefer to go with them,” a BJP leader told NDTV. 12.24 pm: Haryana BJP MLAs meet begins Forty-seven BJP MLAs will shortly today to decide on the new legislature party leader, the latest reports said. Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu and party vice-president Dinesh Sharma will head the meeting. They have been appointed as observers by the BJP for deciding the chief minister of the state. The new chief minister will most likely take oath on 22 October, reports said. The party is still undecided on the chief ministerial candidate and the workers are getting impatient with the delay. This is the first time that BJP is forming a government in Haryana and bureaucracy expected the decision on the CM post to come sooner. As we reported earlier, the front runners for the top post are RSS member Manohar Lal Khattar, state BJP chief Rambilas Sharma, party spokesman Captain Abhimanyu, party’s Kisan cell president Om Parkash Dhankar and also Vij. 11.12 am: Jaitley, Gadkari meet as BJP prepares to dump Sena Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari have met in Delhi, even as the BJP prepare to dump the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. The two had discussed the poll situation in the state. 10.00 am: BJP will ditch Sena in Maharashtra: reports New reports coming in now that the BJP will ditch the Shiv Sena, and will go it alone in Maharashtra. The latest developments come even as the BJP approaches smaller parties and independents as talks with the Shiv Sena come to a stalemate. “As of now, with support of smaller parties and independent MLAs, we have in all 135 MLAs,” BJP MP Kirit Somaiya
told Firstpost’s Vishwas Waghmode
. The cornered Shiv Sena, which has seen all of its demands for a post poll alliance rejected by the BJP has lashed out at the NCP which queered the pitch by offering unconditional outside support to the BJP. The people have not only ensured the defeat of the Congress-NCP but have rubbed their faces in the dirt. But the NCP is attempting to only stand in the same photograph as the BJP. Maybe they will feature in the photo but what about the fact that they are unrecognisable because of the mud on their faces?" an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana asked. 9.18 am: Shiv Sena demands half the ministerial berths in Maharashtra government The Shiv Sena is reportedly asking the BJP for an equal number of ministerial portfolios, recalling the formula of the earlier 1995 government, says
this report
in DNA. According to the report: The Sena was seeking half the ministerial berths, in which each party got an equal number of portfolios. But the BJP argument is that its seats have doubled now. The party is willing to give a third of the portfolios, including 10 ‘heavyweight’ portfolios, to the Sena. Out of 43 ministries, 30 are considered major. The Sena is also seeking the deputy CM’s position. This might also not be granted. Officially, the Sena position is that it’s waiting for a proposal from the BJP. This development was confirmed by a BJP leader
to the Economic Times
: “Talks have been happening with Sena since yesterday (Sunday). Sena wants cabinet berths to be divided on a 1:1 ratio, which is unacceptable to us. We have almost double the number of seats and a strong government at the Centre. We are willing to decide on the basis of 2:1 ratio, but some Sena leaders have told us that is not acceptable to them,” the BJP leader said. 8.20 am: With no progress, BJP likely to form minority govt With the BJP-Shiv Sena talks for an alliance in the Maharashtra government not making much progress over the last two days, the BJP is reportedly exploring options of forming a minority government with the support of Independents, smaller political parties and outside support from the NCP.
According to this report in the Economic Times, several BJP leaders have said that the demands being made by the Shiv Sena were unreasonable and the BJP, which is the larger party was in no mood to relent. “Talks have been happening with Sena since yesterday (Sunday). Sena wants cabinet berths to be divided on a 1:1 ratio, which is unacceptable to us. We have almost double the number of seats and a strong government at the Centre. We are willing to decide on the basis of 2:1 ratio, but some Sena leaders have told us that is not acceptable to them,”
the BJP leader told
ET
. Updates for 20 October end 3.25 pm: NCP elects Ajit Pawar as its legislative party leader The NCP today announced that Ajit Pawar will be its leader in the Maharashtra Assembly, adding that all further decisions to be taken about the party’s support to the BJP will be taken only after Diwali. Speaking to reporters outside the party office, Pawar said: “Our workers have done a great job, we will work to our best efforts and play a crucial role in the assembly.” Meanwhile, commenting on their support to the BJP, Sharad Pawar said: “Don’t want to be a part of govt in Maharashtra. Will only provide outside support to BJP.” 2.35 pm: Shiv Sena says it has not discussed alliances yet Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut addressed the media after a meeting of all the party’s elected MLAs but threw little to no light on what the Shiv Sena planned to do next. Raut said that the party had approved two resolutions at the party meeting. The first was that party president Uddhav Thackeray would choose the Shiv Sena legislative leader, and the second was to thank the people of Maharashtra for their support. He did not comment on the ongoing situation with the BJP, only saying that no decision was taken with regard to the alliance. 1.50 pm: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar meets party MLAs A day after making public its decision to offer unconditional outside support to the BJP, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday met with his MLAs to decide their party’s next step given that the BJP has not yet made known whether they would accept their support or go with the Sena. Late Sunday night, former CM Prithviraj Chavan suggested that the NCP had already planned that they would end the alliance with the Congress and support a BJP government. 1.20 pm: ‘Shiv Sena may extend support to BJP’ Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who is currently meeting with newly elected party legislators at Sena Bhavan, is reportedly understood to have conveyed to the BJP that it will extend support to help form government. According to this
report by Zee News
, the announcement could come as early as this afternoon. 1.05 pm: BJP will decide whose support they want, says RSS Commenting on the government formation in Maharashtra, the RSS has said it would not intervene and would let the BJP top leadership decide if they want to go with the Shiv Sena or accept the unconditional outside support from the NCP. “BJP can decide if they want to accept support of the NCP,” an RSS leader told CNN-IBN. 12. 10 pm: Shiv Sena leaders meet Uddhav Thackeray According to Times Now, top Shiv Sena leaders are meeting Uddhav Thackeray to discuss on the political situation in Maharashtra. 10.30 am: Uddhav Thackeray reaches out to BJP? According to CNN-IBN sources, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray reportedly made a phone call to BJP chief Amit Shah and Narendra Modi on the government formation in Maharashtra. Uddhav reportedly reached out to the BJP and asked for the past to be forgotten and said that the two parties move forward. The Sena chief reportedly also called Maharashtra BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis - seen as a front runner for chief minister - and senior leader Om Mathur. However, reports say that the BJP is unsure about going with the Sena despite Uddhav’s overtures 9. 45 am: There was no Modi wave in Maharashtra, says former CM Chavan In an interview to NDTV, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said that it is clear there was no Modi wave. “He used all the state’s machinery in the elections,” he said. Asked about NCP’s proposal to provide outside support to the BJP, Chavan said, “Don’t think there was a need (for NCP) to bring down the govt for 20 days and offer it to Modi.” [caption id=“attachment_1765003” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
PTI[/caption] Chavan took full responsibility of the loss in the state assembly elections and said that neither Rahul or Sonia Gandhi were responsible for it. Chavan admitted that the incumbency factor, plus allegations of corruption against the Congress govt were key issues against them. “We inherited a broken economy in 1999, but I took Maharashtra to the No 1 position,” he said. On the issue of corruption, Chavan said that every single alleged corruption charge is being investigated. However, he admitted that the investigating process is slow. He also said that he never sat on any files. On the issue of irrigation scam, Chavan said, “it was not an inquiry, it was a white paper by the department.” 20 October, 8.10 am: Sad that Maharashtra faces uncertainty again A day after the election results and the BJP’s lead, the Shiv Sena did not seem quite happy with the outcome. In an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna, Sena said that the people of Maharashtra have not given a clear mandate. “Sad that state faces uncertainty again,” it said. They asked the people whether they are happy with the results. The party said that they accept the results and “congratulate those who are happy with their victory.” What happened yesterday: BJP is all set to form the government in Haryana. But, in Maharashtra, the party will have to look for an alliance partner as it appears to have fallen short of the majority in the 288-seat state Assembly. But one thing that was clear from the results was the total annihilation of the ruling Congress in both the states. End of updates for 19 October 10.44 pm: In Maharashtra there would be no rotation of CM, Fadnavis front runner, says sources Reports suggest that Devendra Fadnavis is the front runner for the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra, meanwhile Jat leader captain Abhimanyu is the number one choice for the chief minister’s post in Haryana. Sources have told CNN-IBN that in Maharashtra there would be no rotation of chief ministers and it would have a chief minister for five years. 8.30 pm: Alliances will be formed only after choosing CM, says BJP While earlier reports had said that Uddhav Thackeray had called Narendra Modi and Amit Shah congratulating them for their victory, JP Nadda categorically denied it. Nadda said, “No one from the parliamentary board got a call from Uddhav Thackeray. We will first choose a chief minister and then think of alliances in Maharashtra.” About NCP he said that the party had decided to give unconditional outside support to the BJP. 8.25 pm: Win because of Modi and Amit Shah’s leadership, says BJP Thanking the voters for getting BJP a historic win, BJP leader JP Nadda said that the win signified trust of voters on the prime minister. “It has been a wonderful bled of the leadership of Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. We thank our two leaders,” Nadda said. He added, “This also signifies that the Congress has been reduced to a third place because of its misgovernance and corruption.” He also said that the BJP Parliamentary board would form BJP governments in both the states. 8.07 pm: Final figures of the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls Maharashtra Haryana 7.56 pm: Uddhav calls on PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah on Sunday to congratulate them on the electoral victory in Maharashtra, according to CNN-IBN reports. The Sena chief earlier in the evening during a press conference said that he will not approach any party for post-poll alliance. “I’m not offering any support, but if someone approaches us we will consider.” Late in the afternoon, senior NCP leader Praful Patel told the media that the party is ready to extend outside support to the BJP when they form government in Maharashtra. Speculations are rife about which way will the BJP go. Will it be a BJP-NCP alliance or a BJP-Shiv Sena tie up? 7.24 pm: Uddhav gets a call from BJP, say TV reports The BJP and Shiv Sena may already be on its way to patching up. Television reports suggest that the BJP may have taken the first step. CNN-IBN reportes sources as saying the BJP has called Uddhav Thackeray. This comes right after Thackeray said earlier in a press conference from his home that he may think of an alliance only when the BJP approaches him. 6.37 pm: It was a relationship with BJP, not just alliance, says Uddhav Thackeray Uddhav Thackeray says that he is thankful that the BJP has said that it would go with the Shiv Sena and not the NCP. “With the BJP it was a relationship and not just a tie-up,” he said. 6.25 pm: Will consider support only if BJP approaches us, says Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in a press conference thanked party workers and those who voted for the party. He said, “We will never abandon our ideology and I will not let you down.” When asked about an alliance with the BJP he says, “I’m not offering any support, but if someone approaches us we will consider.” [caption id=“attachment_1764247” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
PTI[/caption] He also said, “It depends on the BJP. If they want to approach the NCP, let them do that.” On Narayan Rane’s loss Thackeray said, “All those who have hurt Balasaheb Thackeray have been defeated.” 6.00 pm: Haryana CM resigns Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda tenders resignation to the governor. 5.30 pm: Have done well despite contesting alone, says Shiv Sena Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that there’s no need for the party to take a hasty decision. “We contested alone and have done well,” he said. Raut said that talks are still on with the BJP and no decision has been taken yet. The Shiv Sena leader took a dig at the Congress and said, “We have come to know that NCP has offered support. They are the Nationalist Corrupt Party.” 4.20 pm: Amit Shah holds firm, says there will be a BJP CM in Maharashtra Take that Sena! Confirmation from none other than the BJP President that there is no chance of any compromise on the CM post in Maharashtra. “There will be a BJP CM and a BJP government in Maharashtra”, is the emphatic statement from Shah. Shah is also asked about the NCP offer of unconditional outside support. “We never asked them for an alliance. They have offered us unconditional outside support. That is their stand”, he said. However there was no move on his part to actually refuse the offer. Instead he told the media to wait for the parliamentary board meeting. The significance of this should not be missed. Again, is the BJP playing hard ball with the Sena? The party is surely watching this press conference very carefully. In other news, both Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have commented on the Maharashtra and Haryana results, accepting defeat. “The Congress party accepts the election verdict delivered by the people of Maharashtra and Haryana with humility. Congress resolves to play a constructive and vigilant role. The people of Maharashtra and Haryana trusted us with their mandate thrice and twice respectively. I hope that the parties forming the governments will fulfill the promises that they made”, she said in comments reported by ANI. [caption id=“attachment_1764133” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Reuters[/caption] 4.07 pm: Congress has been pushed to no 3 in both Haryana, Maharashtra says Amit Shah Addressing the media, a clearly thrilled Amit Shah decked out in a suitably ceremonial dull gold outfit, has been quick to point that amid the BJP’s best ever performances in both Haryana and Maharashtra the Congress was reduced to a paltry third. “In both states, we have ensured Congress doesn’t even get Leader of opposition. In making the country a Congress free nation, we have moved two steps ahead”, he said. He also said the victory was an endorsement of the Modi government. “It has been proved beyond doubt that people in India consider Narendra Modi their undisputed leader”, he said, adding that this was a victory for all the BJP workers and was now enough proof for Modi’s detractors that the ‘Modi wave’ was in fact a tsunami. 4.00 pm: BJP says it will consider its options after NCP offer In politics, nothing is set in stone. Not allies, and certainly not enemies. Following the surprise NCP offer to unconditionally give outside support to the BJP following the Maharashtra result, the BJP has gone from its stance of ‘we will never ally with the NCP’ to ‘we will consider our option’. Of course all this could be a pressure tactic on the part of the BJP to get the Shiv Sena to accept whatever it offers. 3.40 pm: Shiv Sena to meet shortly The Shiv Sena will hold a meeting now at Matoshree, the residence of party president Uddhav Thackeray. The party has not made any indication on what it wants to do in the wake of the poll results. The BJP has reportedly already made overtures to the party. The Shiv Sena may hold out for the CM’s post, but what will it do now that the NCP has offered the BJP outside support? 3.10 pm: Amit Shah showered with rose petals outside BJP HQ in Delhi Amit Shah is the man of the moment again, and the party workers at the BJP headquarters are all going out of their way to show it. The party president was showered with rose petals and accompanied to the entrance by dancing workers. The Haryana result in particular was fantastic for the BJP, where the party will form the government on its own. It is ahead in 48 seats in the state, 2 seats over the required 45 for a majority. In Maharashtra, the party will most likely approach the Shiv Sena to form the government, although the NCP has already offered it outside support. 3.06 pm: NCP prepared to give outside support to BJP The NCP has said that it will extend outside support to a BJP government in Maharashtra. Speaking to media a short while ago, Praful Patel said that the party had no option but to look at what would make the most sense, adding that given the numbers, it was clear that only the BJP looked well placed to form the next governemnt. “This is Maharashtra’s only chance for a stable government”, he said. 3.00 pm: Expected majority but happy with Maharashtra result, says Gadkari Union minister Nitin Gadkari admitted Sunday that his party expected to win a majority in Maharashtra but said he was nevertheless happy with the election outcome. “BJP is number one in Maharashtra for the first time. It is true we expected an absolute majority but even this victory is very big,” Gadkari told reporters. The BJP has won 17 seats in Maharashtra and is leading in 104 seats in the 288-seat assembly. It, however, failed to bag a majority. “We will certainly form a government in Maharashtra,” said Gadkari. A former BJP president and from Maharashtra, Gadkari ruled out the possibility of he becoming the new chief minister in the state. “I have made it clear that I am happy in Delhi. I am doing good work here. I don’t want to go Maharashtra.” 2.30 pm: Chavan addresses press conference, concedes defeat Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, who earlier conceded defeat in the assembly polls, addressed the media and once again accepted full responsibility for the party performance in the state. However he added that things had improved for the party since the Lok sabha elections. Well… at last count the party was ahead in 44 seats. This is equal to the 44 seats the entire Congress party won in the Lok sabha elections. 2.02 pm: Prithviraj Chavan concedes defeat, accepts responsibility Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has conceded defeat in the Maharashtra polls and said that he accepts responsibility for the party’s performance. Anticipating the defeat in the assembly elections, Congress leaders in Maharashtra are reportedly preparing to train their guns on former CM Prithviraj Chavan and heap blame for the party’s defeat on him, said Firstpost’s Vishwas Waghmode in a report before results were announced.
According to the report
: [caption id=“attachment_1763885” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
AFP[/caption] Some of them seem to be miffed by the allegedly lacklustre campaign that the Congress ran under Chavan, compared to BJP’s high voltage blitzkrieg led by PM Narendra Modi. “We could neither match BJP’s campaign in appeal nor could be reach out to the masses," a Congress leader said, requesting anonymity. He added that what added insult to the injury was Chavan’s controversial interview with comments on Adarsh scam, his predecessors and his allies a day before the polling day in Maharashtra. “We were projecting Chavan’s clean image despite the continuous tirade by the opposition accusing him of taking slow decisions during his tenure. But, his clean image was hit after he made controversial remarks on the Adarsh scam and his predecessors. The BJP took advantage of it and used his statements in advertisements on the polling day. It sent out a wrong message in the general public which is likely to cost us" 1.52 pm: Maharashtra Congress president Manikrao Thakre resigns Maharashtra Congress president Manikrao Thakre has resigned from the Congress party, following the poor showing by the party. At last count, the Congress barely scraped into third place, leading in 44 seats, to the NCP’s 42 seats. The BJP had improved its position to 120 seats, while the Shiv Sena had increased its count to leads in 60 seats. In Haryana, Bhupender Singh Hooda has already conceded defeat, though he won his own seat. He wished the new government luck. “Congratulate those who have won and wish the new govt all the best,” he said, adding, “Am confident that the progress rate that Haryana is on, will not drop.” 1.00 pm: CM will be from BJP, says Devendra Fadnavis Strap yourselves in for the long haul folks. We could well be looking at an eyeball to eyeball staring match between the allies turned competitors - Shiv Sena and BJP. Soon after the Shiv Sena insisted that the CM would be from their party, the BJP has said that they will appoint the CM. Addressing a media conference a short while ago, Maharashtra BJP President Devendra Fadnavis said that the BJP would form the next government and also have the next Chief Minister. Meanwhile the Shiv Sena is due to hold a meeting at Uddhav Thackeray’s house in Matoshree to decide what to do next. Will they join hands with the BJP or will they insist on sitting in the opposition? 12.04 pm: BJP may win but Uddhav is the king With it now abundantly clear that there is no clear winner in Maharashtra, it looks like Uddhav is the best placed to take advantage of this situation. At last count, the BJP was leading in 113 seats, while the Shiv Sena seemed to have consolidated its position in second place, with leads in 62 seats. The NCP has pipped the Congress to third place with leads in 45 seats to the Congress’ 42. This means that the BJP will have to go with the Sena in order to form the next government, unless it opts for the NCP which looks to be an extremely unlikely scenario, Party president Uddhav Thackeray meanwhile has been careful enough to keep his options open. ‘We will go with whichever party works for Maharashtra", he has been quoted as saying. He had also reportedly said that this result proved that there was no Modi wave in the state. As the vote count continued, Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said: “Whatever happens, the chief minister will be from our party. We will make our stand clear today evening.” Meanwhile this cartoon from the NCP seems to sum everything up in Maharashtra nicely:
11.43 am: Party high command will decide way forward in Maharashtra, says Kirit Somaiya The Maharashtra BJP held its first press conference post the election results, and said that the party high command would take a final call on what they would do next. The party leaders also attributed the victory to Modi, saying that they had been able to create a ‘mini Modi government’ in the state. Our party has been able to create a mini Modi govt in Maharashtra 11.36 am: Rajiv Shukla blames anti-incumbency for Cong performances The Congress’ Rajiv Shukla has said that anti-incumbency is to blame for the poor performance of the Congress in both Haryana and Maharashtra. “We have been in power for over ten years in both these states. Clearly there was an anti-incumbency factor”, he said, adding that it was natural for a party that swept the Lok Sabha elections to also do well in assembly elections that would be held shortly after. 11.20 am: Narayan Rane loses by 9,000 votes Congress’ senior party leader and the party’s election campaign chief Narayan Rane has lost to Shiv Sena’s Vaibhav Naik in Kudal by 9,000-odd votes media reports have said. Rane, one of Prithviraj Chavan’s biggest critics had quit all party positions earlier this year, in a power struggle with the Congress Chief Minister. Ironically enough, Rane was a Shiv Sena Chief Minister for the state. He lost to his main rival, Shiv Sena’s Vaibhav Naik by over 10,000 votes.
And as the results get clearer, we are getting reports that the BJP is already in closed door talks about possible coalitions. CNN-IBN said that Nitin Gadkari has been selected to hold talks with the Sena, while India Times reported that Eknath Khadse, Om Mathur and Devendra Fadnavis were in closed door talks in Mumbai. 10.39 am: In Maharashtra, parties will have to start thinking coalitions [caption id=“attachment_1763525” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Will it all come down to Uddhav?[/caption] In Maharashtra, it has become abundantly clear that parties will now have to start talking coalitions. The BJP leads in just 109 seats, while the Shiv Sena is ahead in 60 seats. The Congress and NCP are neck and neck with leads in 48 and 47 seats apiece. So what are the possible combinations? First, the BJP will look to mollify the Shiv Sena and approach its former ally for a post poll alliance. However it may take some doing, given that the Shiv Sena was extremely hurt by the decision to split. A second unliklier option will be if the Shiv Sena ties up with the NCP, which has won 47 seats. And the third and least likely option is if the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress club together and form a non-BJP government. This would be the only realistic way that Uddhav Thackeray will get to be CM, but will mean the end of credibility for the party in the state. 10.22 am: Angry Congress workers renew demand for Priyanka Routed in Haryana and reduced to third in Maharashtra, the Congress party headquarters in Delhi is not a happy place today. According to ANI news, the demands for Priyanka to ‘save’ the party have renewed. Check out these tweets:
Back to the results: In Maharashtra, the BJP leads have fallen somewhat from earlier highs of 118 seats to 109 seats. The Shiv Sena seems to have settled at 61 seats, which is towards the higher end of what was predicted for them in the exit polls. Congress has outperformed the exit poll predictins, managing to hold on to 50 seats, but try telling that to the party workers. 9.52 am: All leads for Haryana in, BJP easily gets majority All the leads are in for Maharashtra, and the BJP looks easily set to form the government on its own. The party is ahead in 52 seats, while the INLD is in second place with 15 seats. Congress is a dismal and distant third with just 13 seats, We still have to get leads for 2 more seats in Maharashtra, but all indications are that the BJP will fall short. The party is ahead in 116 seats - remember it needs 144 to form the government. The Shiv Sena is ahead in 56 seats, which is towards the lower end of what was projected for the party in the exit polls. Congress is ahead in 50 seats, while the NCP is leading 44. Here are how some personal battles are playing out:
Will Fadnavis be the next CM?[/caption] However speaking to NDTV, BJP Maharashtra President Devendra Fadnavis said that as far as the party was concerned, the Shiv Sena was not the BJP’s political opponent. “Splitting with the BJP hurt us deeply. But we moved on. We don’t think we will need the Sena to form the government, but we don’t think of them as our political opponents”, he said. Fadnavis also refused to get into the CM debate, saying that he had no such aspirations and was willing to support whoever the party chose. 9.08 am: Early diwali at BJP Delhi HQ, as celebrations begin As it becomes abundantly clear that the BJP is set to form governments in both Haryana and Maharashtra, celebrations have begun at the Headquarters in Delhi. In Haryana, the party looks as though it will easily form the next government. It is already ahead in 39 seats. The magic figure in this state is 46 seats and they are almost there. In Maharashtra however the situation is not that clearcut. The party seems to have lost a lot of its momentum. The BJP is now ahead in just 82 seats, while the Shiv Sena is now ahead in 51. The NCP and Congress are jostling for third place with 36 and 35 seats apiece. Yet more indication that the parties made a mistake in splitting. 8.52 am: The other Maharashtra takeaway: NCP-Congress made a huge mistake by splitting As the BJP continues to soar ahead in Maharashtra - the party now leads in 68 seats - the other big takeaway seems to be that the NCP and Congress made a huge mistake by splitting. The NCP is leading in 22 seats to the 20 leads by Congress. But together they would have been leading in 42 seats - which is still higher than the second placed Shiv Sena. And this is not taking into account the votes that they would have lost by merely splitting. Now the poll pundits are saying that the BJP may fall short of an absolute majority in the state. The question is, if that proves to be the case, who will it go to? The Shiv Sena or the NCP? The other takeaway ofcourse is this: Uddhav Thackeray cannot make any claims to be the next Chief Minister of the state. 8.46 am: BJP momentum slows down in Maharashtra The BJP now looks as though it will easily take Haryana, while in Maharashtra its momentum seems to be slowing a bit. Make no mistake though - it is still far ahead. The party is now ahead in 49 seats. That is more than double the seats of the second placed Shiv Sena which is leading in 24 seats. The Congress is in third place with 15 seats, while the NCP seems to have recovered a little with 13 seats, [caption id=“attachment_1763259” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Reuters[/caption] 8.40 am: BJP starts pulling ahead in Haryana Haryana is not even remotely close anymore. The BJP is leading in 20 seats, leaving both the INLD and Congress in the dust. Both those parties are leading in five seats apiece. In Maharashtra, the party is consolidating its leads. It is ahead in 34 seats, with the Shiv Sena ahead in 16. Congress is not doing as badly as one would expect - it is showing leads in 12 seats. Sharad Pawar’s NCP seems to be the biggest loser. It is showing leads in only 4 seats. 8.30 am: Cakewalk in Maharashtra for BJP, Haryana a little closer The BJP looks all set to form a government on its own in Maharashtra. At latest count the party was ahead in 30 seats, with the Shiv Sena trailing in distant second - with leads in just 11 seats for now. However in Haryana, the situation is not so clear. The BJP is ahead in 9 seats, but the INLD lead in 3, and the Congress in another 3. This seems to be completely inverse to what the exit polls were saying! The two state level losers seem to be the MNS in Maharashtra and the HJC in Haryana, neither of whom have opened their accounts yet. 8.20 am: Shiv Sena opens its account - registers lead in 3 seats The Shiv Sena has opened its account, registering 4 leads. The BJP meanwhile is only consolidating its leads - it is now ahead in 11 seats. Although it is extremely early at this stage, the patterns seem to be largely corresponding to that of the Lok Sabha elections. And in a worrying sign for the Shiv Sena in particular, if this trend continues, the BJP will not need anyone’s help to form the government in the state. In Haryana, no one else seems to have registered any leads. The BJP is ahead in all the three seats for which leads are out so far. 8.12 am: BJP pulls ahead in Maharashtra in early leads The unthinkable has happened! Congress is on the board in Maharashtra. The party has registered its first lead in Malegaon central as results start coming in. The NCP is also ahead in one seat - Nandgaon. However the BJP is pulling ahead in the state, registering leads in five seats. The BJP is ahead in Sakri, Raudur, Ajola West, Pune cantonment and Sangli. 8.07 am: First leads come in for Maharashtra - BJP ahead The first four leads have come in for Maharashtra. The BJP is leading in all. It is a gain for the BJP from the vidan sabha, but the party is effectively holding on to its 2014 Lok Sabha segments, which is good news for the party given that they did so well in the state. In terms of the gains it is making from its last vidan sabha performance, the BJP seems to be making gains at the expense of Congress. But this is something that was predicted in every exit poll. The first lead has come in for Haryana as well - Ladwa. The BJP is leading from here as well. Bad news for the INLD, as this was one of the seats that the party was reportedly hoping to win. 7.56 am: Captain Abhimanyu predicts sweep for BJP in Haryana Captain Abhimanyu, the BJP front runner for Haryana Chief Minister if the party sweeps the state as predicted, has said that the state will finally witness the downfall of dynastic politics in the state. Speaking to Times Now, he said “aristocratic politics will end and Haryana will see a democratic government for the first time”. 7.30 am: Counting to begin shortly, will results confirm exit poll predictions? Counting for the state assembly elections held in Maharashtra and Haryana is set to begin a short while from now and of course the big question is, will it be a BJP victory as predicted in the exit polls? In Haryana, the BJP is expected to win big, with two exit polls: Today’s Chanakya and C-Voter predicting that the party would be able to form the government on its own: In Maharashtra, which witnessed an unprecedented four cornered race following the split up of two old alliances - the Shiv Sena - BJP and Congress - NCP, the exit polls indicate that the results are not that emphatic. Although the BJP has emerged the single largest party in the state according to all the polls, only one of them (Today’s Chanakya) predicted an outright victory for the party with everyone else indicating that they would fall short of an absolute majority. The biggest takeaway from Maharashtra has been the fact that the BJP has proved to the Shiv Sena that it is simply too large to be the ‘junior’ coalition partner in the Mahayuti alliance anymore. Whether this will lead to a reunion or a permanent split is anyone’s guess at this point. Although Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray seemed to be turning down the rhetoric against the BJP after lampooning the party in the run up to the polls, party sources have gone on record as saying that he is not too keen on tying up with the BJP for a post poll alliance. [caption id=“attachment_1763127” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Representational image: PTI[/caption] The
_Times of Indi_a quoted
a ‘key Sena functionary’ as saying,"He thinks that if we join the BJP government, the Sena will be accused by the Congress, NCP, MNS and the media of being power hungry. The Sena, he thinks, will lose its moral sheen… “Yet another deterrent (in being part of the BJP regime) is Thackeray’s acerbic onslaught on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah during the poll campaign. “Even Sainiks will be confused if, after all that happened between the two parties in the last two months, Uddhav-ji decides to lend support to the BJP government” In his latest editorial, Thackeray had reached out to the BJP saying that it was time for the bitterness and fighting to end, but had said that the exit polls would be proven wrong. However
as Firstpost editor R Jagannathan pointed out
, “The voter, far from rejecting one for the other or even both, gave her support to both of them. This is the only reading possible when both the BJP and Sena gained vote share - even though the vagaries of vote-to-seat conversion favours the BJP for now. The voter effectively celebrated this divorce. She gave the same verdict separately what she would have given them had they been together - around 200-odd seats combined. And as pointed out by Firstpost reporter Vishwas Waghmode, the Shiv Sena literally cannot afford to lose the support of the BJP: “Currently, BMC is ruled by the Shiv Sena-BJP combine with the Sena as the major partner. The annual budget of over Rs 31,000 crore of the civic body, believed to be the richest civic body in Asia, is larger than many small Indian state government budgets including Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Utttarakhad, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and others. BMC is the Shiv Sena’s main source of generating party funds and retaining control over the political affairs in Mumbai.” In Haryana, the BJP is already talking Chief Ministers, following the emphatic victory that has been predicted for the party in the state. However the INLD, the party that looks set to come in second, has trashed the exit polls. INLD MP, Dushyant Chautala trashed the exit polls, which showed INLD only as the second best. He said, “There is no if. There is no but. INLD is coming back to power after ten years. We will get a majority and form the government.” Dushyant added that he did not believe in exit poll predictions. “Exit polls are bakwas. There is no truth in them. How can you predict such an important election in the state by talking to some 2000-3000 people? Remember there are more than 1.5 crore voters in Haryana. We are getting at least 46 seats, which may go up to 60 out of 90 seats in the state”.
