Mumbai, October 30
The first BJP government in Maharashtra, led by Devendra Fadnavis, will be sworn in tomorrow in a ceremony that the Shiv Sena has decided to boycott due to “constant humiliation”.

“We have constantly been humiliated by the BJP, which has not gone down well with our MLAs. As our MLAs feel that the BJP did not give us due respect, why should we attend the oath-taking ceremony?” Sena MP Vinayak Raut told reporters after meeting party president Uddhav Thackeray.

The Sena’s tough stance came hours after the BJP said no minister from that party was likely to be inducted tomorrow. “It is unlikely that any MLA from the Shiv Sena will be sworn in as minister tomorrow,” BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said when talks between the two parties were on.

Rudy said the BJP had decided to accept outside support offered by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). “Any political group, formation or individual ready to extend unconditional support to the BJP government in the larger interest of development of Maharashtra will certainly be welcomed without reservations,” he said.

He said the BJP had not obtained any letter of support from either the NCP or anyone else. “We have not given any written submission (to the Governor). We have simply staked claim as the single largest party,” Rudy said.

Maintaining that the BJP was looking forward to a decision soon, he said: “This may not happen tomorrow." When asked if talks between Shiv Sena and BJP leaders for discussing a possible alliance had been called off, Raut said no talks had been scheduled, so there was no question of cancellation.

44-year-old Fadnavis, a fourth-term MLA from Nagpur, will be administered the oath of office by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at Wankhede Stadium in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Cabinet colleagues, Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states, corporate leaders, Bollywood stars and other celebrities. After taking oath, Fadnavis will have 15 days to win a vote of confidence in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Earlier, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said that the 41 MLAs of the NCP would abstain from the vote of confidence, thus enabling the BJP to sail through even without the Sena support.

The BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the 288-member state Assembly with 122 seats but one of its MLAs Govind Rathod died earlier this week.