Raut says Shiv Sena will not attend pre-session BJPs NDA meet

Mumbai:

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday made it clear that the Sena will not attend the pre-session meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) called on the eve of the winter session of the parliament. The winter session of the Parliament is to sit in session from November 18 to December 13. However, the Sena is likely to attend the all party meeting convened by the BJP led government.

Besides several other important legislations that the BJP led government will move during the winter session before both the houses of the parliament, the government will have to move the ordinance regarding imposition of the Presidents Rule in Maharashtra for ratification. The legislation is bound to invoke sharp and heated debates in both the houses of the Parliament.

In a rejoinder to BJP leader Ashish Shelar’s remarks, Raut retorted that to understand Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Sena does not require the help of BJP leaders. Meanwhile, rearrangement of sitting arrangements of Sena MP’s Anil Desai and Sanjay Raut in Rajya Sabha has raised the hackles of Sena Lok Sabha MP Vinayak Raut who has warned the BJP that it will have to face the consequences of it.

It may be recalled that the Sena had tried to move the Supreme Court of India (SC) contending that it had been given very little time to stake its claim to form the government. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which was given time till 8.30 pm on November 11 by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, earlier in the day dashed off a letter to Raj Bhavan seeking more time to stake its claim.

Meanwhile, the Sena-NCP and Congress delegation that was supposed to have called on the Governor today evening has postponed its meeting. In a statement issued here Shiv Sena Legislature Party (SSLP) leader Eknath Shinde stated that prominent leaders and legislators of these three parties were out in areas of the state for on field inspection of crop damage due to unseasonal rains hence they cannot come for the meeting with the Governor.

Besides this the newly elected legislators also had to submit details of their election expenditures and election certificates with the Election Commission of India (ECI), hence they could not remain present in Mumbai. Apart from this, entire Sena leadership is likely to remain present at Shivaji Park, Dadar on November 17 to mark the seventh death anniversary of late Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray.

Sources disclosed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP president Sharad Pawar are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on November 16 to discuss the Common Minimum Program (CMP) drafted by the leaders of the three parties in Mumbai. It is not clear when and where will Sena president Uddhav Thackeray likely to meet the Congress president and the NCP president to discuss the CMP. Sources disclosed that the leaders of the MahaShivAghadi have their task cut out before them over the issue of complete waiver of farm loans as the state is already facing a debt burden of Rs 20,000 crores.

Besides this, NCP president Sharad Pawar while on tour of Vidarbha couple of days ago made it clear that there has been no decision made on who should be the Chief Minister of the alliance. Senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has stirred the debate by remarking that one cannot predict the outcome of a cricket match till the last moment. What looks like a lost match till the very end, is won at the end.

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil argued that without the 119 MLAs, no government can be formed without the BJP being part of it. He argued that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has given his word that the BJP will form the next government. Meanwhile, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) leader Raju Shetti has clarified that no one has contacted him for supporting the Sena and added that his party will decide on its support at the time of the trust vote.