Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and his party MLAs seem to have made up their mind not to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister-designate Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet on Friday. The Sena leadership looks inclined towards sitting in the Opposition than being a part of the government. On the other hand, the BJP said it was confident of facing the vote of confidence on the floor of the House even without the support of Shiv Sena and NCP. READ: Raj Thackeray to skip swearing in ceremony, plans a fortnight long outreach programme “If we are being humiliated, what is the point of going to the swearing-in ceremony. The humiliation meted out by the BJP has not gone down well with our MLAs,” said senior Sena leader and MP Vinayak Raut. The party leadership is learnt to have called up all its MLAs and asked them to refrain from attending the swearing-in ceremony. The Sena had been insisting that it should be given a third of the cabinet berths in the new government, but the BJP is not inclined to accommodate the Sena’s demands. Fadnavis had Wednesday extended invitation to Uddhav Thackeray and his wife Rashmi, and Sena leaders had assured that they would attend the ceremony. The Sena had claimed that it would take a final decision on joining the government after a meeting of its leaders on Thursday. It had also tried to placate the BJP through an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, saying it welcomed the new government but the BJP should not ally with the NCP. It also stated that running a minority government was not constitutionally permissible. READ: Shiv Sena praises ‘Narendra-Devendra’ combine; warns BJP on NCP The Sena was hoping that as the day progressed the BJP would accommodate its demands. However, after a tweet by senior BJP leader Rajeev Pratap Rudy that even though discussions were on with the Sena it seemed unlikely that Sena members would be sworn in on Friday, the Sena decided to call off its internal meeting and boycott the function. READ: Uddhav Thackeray holds talks with Shiv Sena leaders, unlikely to be in govt for now Talking to The Indian Express later, Rudy said: “We are ruling out alliance with the Shiv Sena tomorrow. However, we have a cordial equations and talks are still going on.” Fadnavis will be sworn in along with a small team of cabinet ministers. Party insiders indicated that Friday would be a “100 per cent BJP show”. A miffed Sena leadership said party chief Uddhav Thackeray would take a final call on what the party planned to do. Sena leaders said the top brass seemed to have made up its mind to sit in the Opposition.
