Farmer wants to be Maharashtra CM till Sena-BJP row on post ends

A farmer from Beed district in Maharashtra wants to be Chief Minister till the ruling BJP and the Shiv Sena resolve their differences over power-sharing and formation of the next government. The farmer, Srikant Vishnu Gadale, a resident of Vadmauli in Kej taluka, has expressed this wish in a letter submitted to the office of Beed collector on Thursday. He wrote in the letter, "The Shiv Sena and the BJP are yet to resolve their issue regarding the post of Chief Minister which was raised after the 2019 assembly election results.

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"Natural calamities (unseasonal rains) have hampered ready-to-harvest crops in the state. The farmers are tense over these calamities." "At a time when farmers are suffering, the Shiv Sena and the BJP are unable to resolve the issue of holding the Chief Minister's post. "Hence, till the issue is resolved, the governor should hand over the responsibility of Chief Minister's post to me," Gadale said. "I will solve the problems of farmers and give them justice," he said. The farmer also wrote that if the administration does not take note of his letter, he would protest through "democratic means". 

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Sena's 50-50 formula

A day after the election results were announced, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, outside Uddhav Thackeray's residence Matoshree said that the Chief Ministerial post must be equally divided between BJP and Sena for 2.5 years each. He wanted BJP president Amit Shah to give the assurance in writing and to maintain the 50-50 formula that was sealed before polls. Moreover, Sena has put banners in the Worli constituency from where Aaditya Thackeray won the assembly polls declaring him as the next CM.

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Maharashtra poll result

When the poll result was announced on October 24, the saffron alliance swept Maharashtra, winning a combined tally of 161 (BJP- 105, Sena -56). But the 'Maha- Agadhi' alliance (NCP-Congress)  made a comeback as the NCP bagged 54 seats while the languishing Congress too bagged 44 seats. Though the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will form the next government, it was handed a diminished mandate compared to 2014 where it won 185 seats.

(with PTI inputs)

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