Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the political drama that ensued in Maharashtra recently could be a lesson for him in hindsight.
Speaking at an event organized by India Today and Aaj Tak, on Tuesday 18 December, the minister said that his party did not fail, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wasn’t able to form a government, because its ally Shiv Sena got greedy.
The minister maintained that the party was never on board for a non-BJP Chief Minister for the state.
‘Glad My Chanakya Image Broke’
When asked if what happened in Maharashtra had maligned or damaged his image as the ‘modern-day Chanakya’, Shah said that he was glad that the perception was broken.
"It's a good thing this image broke. The problem started with Shiv Sena's chief ministerial aspirations. There was no problem – we (BJP) had 105 seats, they (Shiv Sena) had 56. We were supposed to go to the governor. A BJP CM was to be appointed. But it was only when (Sharad) Pawar dropped kernels, the Shiv Sena lapped them up," he said, as per India Today.
He also maintained that his party had never promised the CM post to Shiv Sena.
In October 2019, Maharashtra went into assembly elections in which the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance emerged victorious.
However, the alliance was not able to form a government, as the Sena remained adamant on equal sharing of the chief ministerial post, a demand the BJP did not relent to.
Eventually, Presidents Rule was imposed in the state and after much political drama, Shiv Sena along with Congress and NCP formed the government with Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
(With Inputs from PTI, India Today)
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