Thackeray & Fadnavis posters side-by-side; Sena-BJP CM fight escalates

Chief Minister's position has fanned the flames of a poster war between the two saffron allies-- BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. With each party claiming its own chief minister, in Mumbai's Sion two posters have emerged to further stimulate the power tussle. 

A huge poster by Shiv Sena claiming the Thackeray scion, Aaditya to be the future Chief Minister emerged in Mumbai,  while right next to it the BJP placed a big poster claiming another term for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, amid the escalating conflict between the two. The tiff came after neither of the party's gained an absolute majority in the assembly elections, with BJP winning 105 seats and Shiv Sena winning 56 seats. 

BJP-Shiv Sena tussle

Earlier in the day, Devendra Fadnavis reportedly asserted that he would continue to hold the chief minister's chair, dissing the 50:50 formula talks between the two parties. Fadnavis on Tuesday reportedly stated that the BJP does not give importance to what Raut had said, who been consistently attacking its ally BJP. On Tuesday, Raut when questioned over the delay in government formation despite a pre-poll alliance, responded saying  "There is no Dushyant (Chautala) here whose father is in jail. Here it's us who do politics of 'dharma and satya' (ethics and truth) Sharad (Pawar) who created an environment against BJP and the Congress who will never go with BJP."

Moreover, Fadnavis allegedly took on Saamana, the SS mouthpiece edited by Raut. Maintaining that Saamana was going overboard in its criticism against BJP, he reportedly dared the paper to write in a similar fashion against Congress and the NCP.  On Tuesday, BJP vice president Prasad Lad met with Sena chief  Uddhav Thackeray amid the scuffle. However, a joint meeting that was scheduled to be held between the two parties has been called off. 

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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 had put banners in the Worli constituency from where Aaditya Thackeray won the assembly polls declaring him as the next chief minister.

Maharashta assembly elections

The saffron alliance--Mahayuti of BJP and Shiv Sena won a combined tally of 161 seats (BJP- 105, Sena -56). The Maha-Agadhi alliance of 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. 

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