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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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
