Coalition government in Maharashtra firmly in saddle, says Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena said the party-led coalition government in Maharashtra was firmly in the saddle and there was no scope for a November 2019-like "early morning experiment" in the next four years

The Shiv Sena on Wednesday said

the party-led coalition government in Maharashtra was firmly in the saddle and there was no scope for a November 2019-like "early morning experiment" in the next four years.

The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', also sought to play down last week's meeting between its senior leader Sanjay Raut and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP in a hotel here.

Taking a dig at Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil for his "one fine morning something will happen" remark, it said the early morning alarm has been removed from the clock and everyone is in "jaagte raho" (alert) mode.

"The BJP tried an early morning experiment earlier but it was rectified in 72 hours. There is no early morning political 'mahurat' in the next four-and-a-half years," the Sena publication said in sarcastic remarks.

The former BJP ally was apparently referring to last year's hush-hush early morning ceremony at the Raj Bhavan where Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister with NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy.

After the four-day-old Fadnavis government collapsed, the Shiv Sena, which had snapped ties with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post, formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with ideological rivals NCP and the Congress as its partners.

The editorial said the Raut-Fadnavis meet was not a secret affair and both the leaders have already clarified the reason for their meeting.

Raut, the Sena's chief spokesman, is also the executive editor of 'Saamana'.

"The meeting was not held secretly. The Shiv Sena has no Gupteshwar (Pandey) in its ranks," it said, alluding to the first name of the former Bihar DGP who recently joined the JD (U) after taking voluntary retirement from service.

Maharashtra is run by a Shiv Sena chief minister and the MVA government will last its full term. There is no doubt about it, the Marathi daily asserted.

"If the BJP has put its early morning alarm, they should be rest assured that the clock (NCP symbol) is ticking fast and will not make any mistake.

"The clock is firmly on the hand (Congress symbol) and the early morning alarm has been removed from the clock," it said, ruling out any misstep by the Sena's allies.

"Ajit Pawar has now put a wall clock and not an alarm clock. The pendulum moves continuously and every one is in 'jaagteraho' mode," it said.

Referring to the farmers' unrest and the COVID-19 situation in the country, the Sena said there can be early morning discussions on these issues among the government and opposition parties.

"When the country is faced with serious issues, the atmosphere shouldn't be polluted with politicking," the editorial said.