In a clear sign that Shiv Sena is trying to strengthen its position in the state before the assembly elections slated for later this year, the party has inducted Dushyant Chaturvedi, son of Satish Chaturvedi, a former Congress minister of Maharashtra, as its member.
Dushyant Chaturvedi joined Shiv Sena in the presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree. "With his entry, party will get a boost in Vidarbha region," said Uddhav Thackeray. Meanwhile, sources said that Dushyant might contest the upcoming election from Nagpur seat. Nagpur is considered a BJP stronghold, but Shiv Sena's party functionaries feel that it is important for the party to make its presence felt in the region as well.
Over the last couple of weeks, different statements have been coming in from both the Shiv Sena and BJP camps with regards to CM's post.
CM Devendra Fadnavis had recently asserted that the BJP-Sena alliance was sure to get a thumping victory in the upcoming state assembly polls. He had even termed the much talked about issue of who will become chief minister and who will become deputy chief minister as secondary. But it seems that the things are not as cordial as is being projected. Clearly, the issue of who gets the CM post still remains contentious.
Meanwhile, yesterday, senior BJP leader and State Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan asserted that people have recognised the hard work put in by Devendra Fadnavis in the elections and attribute the victory in the state to his hard work. He even said that BJP has helped Shiv Sena at many places during the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. "Look at the kind of performance we had in the elections and the support that people gave us in the state. Everyone looking at our performance will say that we have a natural claim (referring to chief minister's post)," said Girish Mahajan.