The Uddhav Thackeray-led alliance may have come to power in Maharashtra but one of the biggest challenges for the alliance is to arrive at an agreement about the sharing of power in the state. It was on Friday, that Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray was sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra and today we hear of a fresh disagreement breaking out between the three allies.
This time around the disagreement is associated with power sharing amongst them especially on the post of deputy CM.
Sources reveal that the Congress has led fresh claim over the deputy CM post but the NCP has blatantly said no to its demands.
Due to this disagreement about the deputy CM post, there has been much argument and disagreement among the three allies.
With the state leadership of both the parties unable to resolve the issues, the national leadership of the two parties are now looking into the issue. Apart from the post of the Speaker, the three parties have also not been able to arrive at a consensus regarding some key portfolios, including home, finance, revenue, cooperatives and urban development. Because of these sustained disagreements and the lack of consensus it is believed that it may take a while before the Uddhav Thackeray led alliance can finally expand its cabinet.
It was earlier expected that the expansion of the cabinet would take place immediately after he floor test in the Assembly on Saturday but it has now been deferred. The negotiations among the three allies is likely to continue until they can collectively arrive at a consensus among the three of them. Once a consensus is reached between all the sides, the expansion of the cabinet shall take place.
It was on November 27, after a marathon meeting among the three parties, that NCP would get the deputy CM’s post for five years while the Congress would be offered the Assembly Speaker’s post.
But on Friday, the Congress said that it was ready to give up the Speaker’s post in exchange of the deputy CM’s post. Not wanting to play third fiddle, the Congress wants Uddhav Thackeray to appoint two deputy CM’s one from the Congress and the other from the NCP. They say that the CM and the deputy CM are the faces of the government and they strongly believe that they should get the deputy CM’s post.
The NCP revealed that it was in no mood to listen to the demands being made by the Congress and it would only pose NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s name for the post.
It is evident that consensus is still evading the three parties and to arrive at a consensus, Uddhav Thackeray has convened a special two-day sitting of the state Legislature beginning from Saturday.
The government will move the confidence motion today, without having a full-time Speaker in place. It is also expected that the election for Speaker will take place today.
