BJP leaders in favour of re-election in Maharashtra: BJP Minister
Mumbai: With the Shiv Sena seeming firm on its demand of sharing the chief minister's post in the next Maharashtra government, a BJP minister on Monday said some of his party leaders are willing for a re-election in the state.
The BJP leaders expressed this view during a review meeting held in Dhule district on Sunday, state Tourism and FDA Minister Jaykumar Rawal told a television channel.
"The party workers said senior leaders of the BJP should not have forged an alliance (with the Sena)...give us a chance again, we will contest again and win this time," said Rawal, who is considered close to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The meeting in Dhule was attended by several BJP leaders, workers and candidates who contested the recent Assembly polls, he said.
"Many of them are angry as we could not contest in some seats due to pact with the Sena and lost with a thin margin in some segments," the minister said.
The BJP and its ally Shiv Sena are caught in a stalemate over the chief minister's post, with the Sena demanding an equal division of the top post's tenure and the BJP rejecting it.
Unlike the last Assembly elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena this time fought elections in alliance with each other. The BJP won 105 seats and the Shiv Sena 56.
The term of the existing 13th state Assembly ends on November 9.
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Hezbollah fires over 180 rockets, other projectiles into Israel, wounding at least 7
Beirut, Nov 24: Hezbollah fired at least 185 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in the group's heaviest barrage in several days, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with cease-fire efforts to halt the all-out war.
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a Lebanese army centre killed one soldier and wounded 18 others on the southwestern coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said. Israel's military expressed regret and said the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah, adding that its operations are directed solely against the Hezbollah group. The strike was under review.
Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.
Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.
