Bal Thackeray explodes, scalds BJP

MUMBAI, OCT 13: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray exploded tonight and all but snapped his party's ties with the state BJP. In a late-night s...

MUMBAI, OCT 13: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray exploded tonight and all but snapped his party8217;s ties with the state BJP. In a late-night statement, Thackeray said he was tired of the petty politics being played by the BJP in relation of the efforts at formation of a government in the state.

The Thackeray missive came on a day when it became apparent that the numbers still didn8217;t add up to 145 for the Sena-BJP alliance while the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party seemed to move closer. Thackeray and the Shiv Sena hold the BJP largely responsible for thwarting the formation of a government by the Sena-led alliance when Gopinath Munde revolted against the choice of Narayan Rane as the leader of the Sena-BJP legislature pary. That delayed Rane8217;s plans to stake claim for forming the government on Monday. And that delay almost sounded the deathknell of a possible Sena-BJP government.

This public spat between the two alliance partners now suggests that the chances of a Congress-NCP government haveimproved in the state.

Congress Legislature Party leader Vilasrao Deshmukh and NCP spokesman Vasant Chavan said as much. Before both of them went into late-night talks Deshmukh said in a clear suggestion that there was a new purpose to the talks: 8220;I think it should not be difficult for us to form the government. Once the talks on sharing of portfolios are over, we will approach Governor P C Alexander.8221;

The clinching of the deal depends on an agreement on the seven-point power-sharing proposal put forward by the NCP. Under the formula, the NCP wanted discussion on the chief ministerial candidate, deputy chief minister and speakers posts, division of departments between the chief minister and the deputy chief minister, equitable distribution of portfolios, heads of state-run enterprises, role of alliance partners in the government and setting up of a coordination committee.

The NCP, wanted the chief minister8217;s post in lieu of speaker and deputy CM for the Congress. It also wanted 19 departments,including Home, General Administration, Energy, Cooperation, Urban Development, Rural Development, Finance and Public Works apart from berths for its smaller allies, the Janata Dal, Peasants and Workers Party and Samajwadi Party.

The Congress rejected the proposal as being too demanding and walked out of talks on Monday saying chief minister8217;s post was not negotiable. But now that the NCP has almost given up it8217;s claim on the top job, there is some chance that a deal could be struck on during the talks.

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NCP spokesman Vasant Chavan also sounded positive. 8220;If we give up the chief minister8217;s post, the Congress should be prepared to sacrifice key portfolios. But under all circumstances, I am sure, tonight8217;s talks will not fail8221; Chavan said.

On the Sena-BJP front, there was absolutely no progress since all the BJP leaders were in New-Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Though Chief Minister Narayan Rane had on Tuesday claimed that he was in a position to form thegovernment without NCP8217;s help, the strength of the alliance along with Independent legislators stood at 141 against 145 required for forming the government.

According to a senior BJP leader, though the alliance has not given up the hopes, the ground reality is that it has not been able to muster adequate support required to form the government. 8220;Certainly, since NCP and Congress are coming closer, our task has become difficult. In that event, we may not be able to form the government,8221; the BJP leader added.

What8217;s at stake

Obviously, the whole fight is for the post of the chief minister of Maharashtra. As per the long-standing pact between the Sena and the BJP, the party that manages to get more seats gets the chief minister8217;s post if the alliance gets a shot at government formation. But BJP, which procured only 56 seats as against the Sena8217;s 69, got more ambitious than it should have. That led to bad blood between the allies.

But there are higher stakes for the BJP at the Centre.Tonight8217;s development could give sleepless nights to the BJP at the centre because the Sena has 15 MPs. If things don8217;t settle down and Sena pulls out of the alliance, it could be a major embarrassment for the stability plank of the BJP.