Published 16:12 IST, October 25th 2019
Cartoon war between BJP & Shiv Sena over Maharashtra CM post
Less than 24 hours after the counting of votes for Maharashtra assembly polls ended, it appears that there's already a power tussle between BJP & Shiv Sena
Less than 24 hours after the counting of votes for Maharashtra assembly polls ended, it appears that there's already a power tussle between allies BJP and Shiv Sena who bagged the majority through the Mahayuti (coalition). The power tussle seems to have become an all-blown poster war as the BJP has tweeted an illustration showing its dominance in the alliance. This comes after Sena's provocation where it had shared a poster on social media showing its hold over the BJP owing to the number of seats won by each party. The BJP won 102 seats while the Shiv Sena won 56 seats making the former dependent on the latter to form government in Maharashtra.
BJP's Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga shares poster showing BJP's dominance
National Spokesperson of BJP Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on Friday tweeted an illustration that showed a puny Udhhav Thackeray standing on a stool demanding from the giant depiction of Devendra Fadnavis to call him elder brother. Fadnavis is shown to be looking irritatedly at Thackeray as he has been disturbed from listening to music. He has tweeted the graphic with a comment - 'Don't be offended, its Diwali'
See the tweet below:
Shiv Sena continues building pressure on BJP
The poster comes after the Shiv Sena took the conflict a notch up earlier on Friday. Leader Sanjay Raut tweeted an illustration showing a tiger (symbol of the Shiv Sena) with a locket around its neck smelling a lotus (symbol of the BJP) with a caption, "Don't be offended, it is Diwali", a spin from the popular Hindi phrase people use when they drench each other with colours and water during the festival of Holi (Don't be offended, its Holi). The locket looks like a clock, the symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Shiv Sena demands BJP implement 50-50 formula
Shiv Sena has not made it any more clearer since it became obvious that the Mahayuti was getting majority seats that it wants BJP to honour its coalition agreement of sharing the power in 50-50 formula. On Thursday, addressing the media, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said in as many words that he was sending the BJP a reminder about the agreement. He also said that his party was in no position to compromise on the agreement.
Banners congratulating 'CM Aaditya Thackeray'
The aggravation to this open threat by Shiv Sena happened after a banner congratulating Aaditya Thackeray as the future Maharashtra CM appeared in his seat in Worli, Mumbai. Both Shiv Sena chief and NCP chief (Sharad Pawar) have categorically said that they won't ally with each other. But Shiv Sena seems to be using these tactics to pressurize BJP to implement the 50:50 formula
Updated 16:29 IST, October 25th 2019