Ally partners, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are locked in one-upmanship in the ongoing budget session in Maharashtra, exposing more cracks within the saffron alliance.
Ally partners, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are locked in one-upmanship in the ongoing budget session in Maharashtra, exposing more cracks within the saffron alliance.
On Friday, the BJP came prepared to corner the Congress by raking up the corruption charge against its senior leader (MLA) Kripashankar Singh through a discussion in the assembly.
But even before they could enter the Vidhan Bhawan, the Sena members brought the assembly's functioning to a grinding halt over the issue of the theft of a Ganesha idol in Raigad district.
The Congress and the NCP seized the opportunity to adjourn the assembly for the day. "The Sena leaders did not take the BJP into confidence on the issue. We were caught unawares. We had planned debate on scams," said state BJP chief Sudhir Mungantiwar.
BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis said he was shocked to see that the Congress promptly moved a resolution against the Sena MLAs and adjourned the House. "The Congress supported the adjournment to avoid the debate on scams."
The BJP top leaders are irked with the Sena as they feel they are making a hue and cry over trivial issues instead of cornering the government on charges of corruption and policy matters.
The Sena blames the BJP on the growing rift. "There is one coordination meeting to discuss the weekly agenda. The BJP does not even bother to consult us on issues to be debated," said a senior Sena MLA from Mumbai.
What has irked them is that whenever they raise a issue in the assembly, BJP council leaders dismiss it as a non-issue. "After our Yuva Sena leader Aditya Thackeray met chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, seeking removal of Mumbai university vice-chancellor Rajan Welukar for administrative failure, we wanted to raise the issue in the houses. But the BJP leaders refused to support Sena," said a Sena leader.
The Sena has decided to have its own roadmap in the session to counter the BJP. After the debate on Naxals in the council, Sena members headed to Raj Bhawan to demand action against the VC. They did not attend home minister RR Patil's reply on Naxals. The BJP was left to run the show in state council and gave its nod for the debate on department of education without informing the Sena.
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