Mumbai: The much awaited talks between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena are believed to be in the last stage with the former putting up a new formula before the Sena to join the government.
According to sources, the Devendra Fdnavis government has offered to give 6-7 ministries to the estranged ally against Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's demand of 12 ministries.
Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai, said to be a very close confidant of Uddhav, yesterday hinted that the talks with the BJP over joining the new Maharashtra government are proceeding in the right direction and a final decision will be taken before the inaugural session of the state Assembly starts on November 10.
"Talks with the BJP are on and moving in the right direction. We will finalise the decision on our role in the new government before the floor test is conducted. Uddhavji will take the final call in this regard," Desai said.
A three-day session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly will be held from November 10 in which the Devendra Fadnavis-led government will seek a vote of confidence. The BJP, which has 121 seats, needs support of 22 more MLAs to prove majority in the 288-member House.
The trust vote will be sought on November 12 after all the newly elected MLAs take oath. The protem Speaker will be elected on November 10. The Sena, which has 63 MLAs, emerged as the second largest party in the recently concluded assembly polls.
Maharashtra Chief Minister has also given indications that the talks between BJP and Sena are on and a fruitful outcome is expected soon.
Highly placed sourced said that though the decision on the distribution of ministries is yet to be taken, the talks on the names of Sena MLA related to same within the party has begun.
The names doing the rounds include senior leader Subhash Desai, Ravindra Waikar, Divakar Rawate, Eknath Shinde, Vijay Shivtare, Nilam Gorhe and Dada Bhuse.
Today, Udhhav has called all newly elected party MLAs to famous Ekvira Devi temple in Lonavala to seek blessings of the goddess.
