New Delhi: The Shiv Sena today boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of the new members of the Council of Ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhvan.
Sena leader Anil Desai, who descended here just ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, has now left for Mumbai, sources said. The Rajya Sabha MP, accompanied by wife, arrived here at 12:20 pm triggering speculations that he will take oath in the first Cabinet expansion exercise.
Sources confirmed that Sena MLAs Dipak Sawant, Suryakant Dalvi, Eknath Shinde and Shubhash Desai are at Matoshri in Mumbai to chalk out party's future strategy.
Yesterday evening, Anand Geete, who was inducted to the Central government as Heavy Industries Minister in May when Modi had formed his Cabinet, left for Mumbai after he couldn't manage to get an appointment to meet the Prime Minister.
The latest developments are now apparently hinting that the trouble between the two parties in Maharashtra would grow further. The Sena has been demanding the inclusion of its MLAs into the Devendra Fadnavis Cabinet ahead of the trust vote to which an ‘adamant' BJP said this will be done only after the vote of confidence, slated for November 12.
The Sena with 18 MPs is the second largest constituent of the NDA government at the Centre after the BJP which has 282 lawmakers.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will today evening clear the air over extending support to the ‘minority' BJP government in Maharashtra. The BJP has 122 MLAs in 288-member House whereas the Sena has 63 legislators. The BJP needs support of 23 more MLAs to prove majority on the floor of the House.
