BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday broke his silence over the political turmoil in Maharashtra saying that there was no deal with Shiv Sena on sharing the Chief Minister’s post and accused the estranged ally of putting forward conditions that could not be accepted.

“Before the elections, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I had said many times in public that Devendra Fadnavis will be the Chief Minister if the alliance wins. Nobody objected back then. Now they have come up with new demands that are not acceptable to us,” Amit Shah told news agency ANI.

Advertisement

Amit Shah also called the imposition of President’s Rule as “constitutional” and “logical” and hit out at the opposition which has been raising the pitch on the issue.

Hitting out at the Shiv Sena indirectly, Shah said that he or the BJP didn’t believe in making private conversations public.

“It is not the tradition of the Bharatiya Janata Party to make public what has happened in the room, because there is dignity in public life. But if the opposition parties think that they will get public sympathy by creating such kind of confusion, they have no idea about the understanding capabilities of Indians,” Amit Shah said.

Rubbishing allegations of favouring the BJP, Shah said that no political party has been able to garner support to stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra.

He reminded that any formation can approach the Governor even now if they think they have the numbers. Shah also hit out at its opponents for suggesting that the Governor was acting on the behest of BJP, calling the claim detrimental to democratic ethos.

Shiv Sena has been claiming that the BJP went back on its promise of equal power-sharing, which included sharing the Chief Minister’s post as well. The Sena has also accused the BJP of being a ‘liar’.

The NCP and the Congress on Tuesday indicated that they were not in a hurry to form a non-BJP government in Maharashtra as they have to sort out issues among themselves and their allies before extending support to Shiv Sena.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that the imposition of President’s Rule has given the two allies enough time to discuss and decide on power-sharing.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday afternoon recommended President’s Rule in the state after none of the three parties, whom the Governor had invited to stake claim, showed an intent to form the government within the stipulated time.