Alliance With BJP Almost Finalised, Shiv Sena to Get 4 Cabinet Berths: Sources

Mumbai: A swearing-in ceremony to induct 12 Shiv Sena ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet in Maharashtra could be held tomorrow or the day after, BJP sources have told NDTV. The two parties are close to sealing a deal for power sharing in the state, they said, with the Shiv Sena having dropped the demand for deputy chief minister or the plum home ministry portfolio.

After a month-long stand-off over sharing of ministerial berths, final negotiations are now on and chief minister Devedra Fadnavis is conducting these over the phone from his hometown Nagpur, the sources said.

The Shiv Sena is now reportedly ready to settle for 12 posts - four of cabinet rank and eight ministers of state. The BJP is ready to offer the Sena the Public Works Department, Irrigation or Energy portfolios, the sources said.

On Monday, Mr Fadnavis had said after a meeting between senior leaders of the two parties in Mumbai, "We are moving in the right direction. We can say that 70-80 per cent talks have been completed where both the parties agree. Some things are left, which we are still discussing."

Allies for 25 years, the two parties had parted ways over seat sharing ahead of the assembly polls, held in October. They failed to agree on power sharing after the BJP emerged as the single largest party but short of a majority. The Shiv Sena, number 2 in the new Assembly, declared it would sit in the opposition after they repeatedly failed to reach a deal.

The Sena's demand for the post of deputy chief minister or a big portfolio like home was said to be the main hurdle. Mr Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister in a big ceremony, with only BJP ministers.

Days later, when Mr Fadnavis won a controversial trust vote in the Assembly, the Shiv Sena joined the Congress in protest.

The present negotiations have no bearing, the sources said, on the BJP-Sena dynamics at the Centre, where the alliance was not called off through the Maharashtra turmoil.