Shiv Sena Ministers, barring Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, stayed away from the State Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, fuelling speculation that the party is upset over ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “poaching” its members ahead of the local body elections.
Sources said efforts by the Shiv Sena Ministers to reach out to Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan failed after the drama at the Secretariat, even as Mr. Chavan continued inducting members from two prominent Sena Ministers’ constituencies at the State BJP headquarters.
Earlier in the day, four Sena Ministers, including Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Shirsat and Pratap Sarnaik, met Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. The Ministers are learnt to have expressed displeasure over the induction of their party members into the BJP.
Mr. Fadnavis reportedly told the upset Sena Ministers that it was their party that started poaching local BJP leaders, beginning with Ulhasnagar, a senior Minister told The Hindu.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister is learnt to have told the Sena Ministers that nobody in the ruling Mahayuti alliance should induct each other’s local leaders henceforth.
