After days of bitter tussle, the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday managed to reach a consensus and have now decided to come together in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena will now be a part of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in the state.
Addressing a press conference, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Both the parties were of the opinion that there should be a Sena-BJP alliance government in the state and therefore, I called Uddhav Thackeray and said that talks for an alliance must be held. He was also positive about this."
"For the last 25 years, Shiv Sena and BJP were together. But for some reasons we could not fight the assembly elections together. However, the verdict that the Shiv Sena and BJP received in the assembly elections was against the Congress and NCP. Now, we have decided to come together."
He further added, "12 Shiv Sena ministers, including five cabinet ministers, will be sworn in on Friday, along with 8 to 10 ministers of the BJP. The portfolios of the ministers will be decided by the end of the day."
Also read: We have been partners for 25 years, minor conflicts before polls can't finish it off: Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde
"PWD minister Chandrakantdada Patil and Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan held talks with Shiv Sena leaders on Friday and considering the verdict given by the public, we decided to join hands," he added.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Subhash Desai said, "We have come together to make Maharashtra state prosperous and will run the government together."
With Sena now set to join the government, Fadnavis can breathe easy during the winter session of legislature, beginning in Nagpur on December 8.
In an indication of BJP's dominance, Fadnavis ruled out having a deputy chief minister in the ministry.
Just before the assembly elections, Shiv Sena and BJP had broke the 25-year-old alliance as both sides couldn't agree on seat arrangement. BJP subsequently emerged as the single largest party and formed a minority government with outside support given by NCP.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Vidhan Bhawan premises at 4 pm, an official said.
Fadnavis had met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday and is believed to have got the nod for BJP probables in the expansion exercise.
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