Once allied leaders in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and the BJP are not on the best of terms at present. It began a little more than a year ago, as the two parties won a majority in the state Assembly elections. One of the BJP's oldest allies, it grew increasingly agitated in the post poll period, eventually snapping ties as it accused the party of being unwilling to share power equally.
In the weeks after that, there were several twists and turns to the story. Even as the Sena found itself some unlikely allies and went on to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Devendra Fadnavis took oath at a closely guarded early morning ceremony as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a second term with NCP's Ajit Pawar as his deputy. But, unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that this government lasted for only a a couple of days. Soon after this, Ajit Pawar would take oath once again, this time accompanied by Uddhav Thackeray.
And while Fadnavis and indeed many other BJP leaders have repeatedly predicted that this government will not last long, the MVA government has been at the helm for over a year now. Now, a BJP leader has even given a timeframe of sorts for when this change of administration will occur.
"You don't think that our government will not be formed, it'll be formed in two-three months...we're just waiting for these polls to conclude," news agency ANI quoted Union Minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Patil Danve as stating on Monday. He had been campaigning for the Legislative Council elections in Parbhani at the time.
But if the state government is fazed, there has certainly been no indication of the same. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut reminded that today (November 24) was the "death anniversary" of the 3-day government that had been formed last year.
"Our govt will complete four years. Opposition leaders say such things in frustration as all their efforts have failed. They know very well that people of Maharashtra are with this government," Raut assured.
