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Defiant Sena may sit in Oppn in Maharashtra
Shiv Kumar/Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

Mumbai/New Delhi, November 9
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackaray today said his party would sit in the Opposition in Maharashtra if the BJP took NCP's support in the state.

"We will not support the BJP if it takes the support of the NCP," Thackeray told reporters here after a meeting of the party's leaders. "Atalji's 13-day government fell after the NCP withdrew support and now, the BJP wants to tie-up with them," Thackeray said.

The Shiv Sena chief also named party MLA Eknath Shinde as leader of the party in the state Assembly which convenes tomorrow. The Sena has already begun the process of claiming the post of Leader of Opposition.

The Sena has 63 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly and is the second largest party after the BJP in the House.

Relations between the BJP and the Sena reached a breaking point after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted Suresh Prabhu in his Cabinet against the wishes of Thackeray.

When former Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu was taking oath of office and secrecy at the function in the Rashtrapati Bhavan today, not many were aware that he had already joined the BJP.

Considering the simmering tension between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, many were looking for his Sena colleague Anil Desai who too was supposed to be sworn in at the same ceremony.

It was only after the news break of Desai having been summoned back to Mumbai by an angry and upset Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray that it became clear that Prabhu was no longer with the Sena.

Notably, the former Shiv Sena leader had formally joined the BJP before being sworn in as Cabinet Minister in the first expansion of the Narendra Modi government.

As the relationship between the BJP and the Sena hit the nadir, it was clear that for Modi, getting Prabhu in was more important than taking Sena along, which was insisting on a Cabinet berth also for Desai at the Centre."It was Balasaheb who suggested Suresh Prabhu's name to Atalji, but today, he has joined the BJP," Thackeray said. "The BJP has humiliated us completely. There is a limit to how much insults we can take," Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire told reporters here.

On Saturday, the Shiv Sena had indicated that it would want Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai to join the Modi government. Desai had even landed at Delhi airport from Mumbai but immediately turned back following setback in talks.

Prabhu deserts Sena, joins BJP

• Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu formally joined the BJP on Sunday before being sworn in as Cabinet Minister in the first expansion of the Modi government
• Prabhu's Sena colleague Anil Desai (pic), who too was supposed to take oath at the same ceremony, was summoned back to Mumbai by an angry and upset Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
• The party's lone minister in the Modi Cabinet, Anant Geete, is already in Mumbai after being summoned on Saturday