BJP should have agreed to Sena's demand of CM post for two-and-a-half years: Ramdas Athawale
New Delhi, Nov 22: Ramdas Athawale, a BJP ally in Maharashtra and Union minister, on Friday said the saffron party's leadership should have agreed to the Shiv Sena's demand of the chief minister's post for two-and-a-half years so that power would not have slipped out from their hands.
The Republican Party of India (RPI-A) leader's remarks come in the wake of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena inching towards sealing a deal on forming an alliance government in the state.
The state has been facing a political crisis after the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.
"Shiv Sena had repeatedly asked for the chief minister's post for two-and a-half-years, but the BJP said that there had been no such agreement earlier on this and it had 120 MLAs. In such a situation, the Sena has joined hands with the Congress and NCP. With the alliance of the three parties, the door for power has opened for them," Athawale told PTI.
"The BJP delayed things. If they would have accepted the Shiv Sena's proposal and Devendra Fadnavis would have become the chief minister for two-and-a-half years, their friendship would have continued," he said.
But the BJP thought that the Congress will not support the Sena and they would come back to the alliance and did not act, the minister of state for social justice and empowerment said.
Asked if the BJP should have accepted the Sena's demand of having the CM post for two-and-a-half years, Athawale said, "Instead of allowing power to slip out of its hand, if the BJP would have agreed, the Sena would not have left the alliance. If the Sena was not listening, the BJP should have agreed."
The step Uddhav Thackeray has taken is against the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray, he said, adding that the Congress also stands to lose.
He also said that it was doubtful if the Sena-NCP-Congress government will last the full five years as they are ideologically different.
"In my personal opinion, the Congress should also ask for the CM post for one-and-a-half years, NCP should also get one-and-a-half years and Sena should get two years," he said.
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
