BJP-Shiv Sena tie dips further on the eve of union cabinet reshuffle

The already-strained ties between BJP and Shiv Sena further dipped on Saturday night on the eve of the union cabinet reshuffle with the Sena representative unlikely to make an entry at the Centre. Sena representative and union minister Anant Geete has been called to Mumbai by the party leadership after he failed to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday. The Prime Minister refused to meet Geete, Sena sources said.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has called Geete for consultatilons and there may not be any Sena representative at the swearing-in of the new ministers in Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow--neither to witness it nor for inclusion. The late night developments followed after last-minute hurdles appeared to have cropped up over Sena representative's induction into the Union Council of Ministers. A clear indication to this effect was given by Geete himself after his plans to meet Modi did not materialise.

"I could not meet him," he said, while indicating that a last-minute hurdle has also surfaced over Sena representatives being inducted into Maharashtra cabinet. Uddhav Thackeray has already demanded that his party should be inducted into Devendra Fadanvis government before it faces the trust vote on the floor of the Assembly. Sena and BJP ties have been under strain after their oldest ideological alliance in Maharashtra collapsed ahead of the Assembly polls due to problems over seat-sharing. Geete told PTI that no final decision has been taken on fresh induction from the party into the Union government.