BJP General secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy said there will be a majority government in Maharashtra
A day after the formation of the first BJP government in Maharashtra under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, there are signs of a rapprochement between the Shiv Sena and the BJP.
BJP General secretary and senior leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told NDTV that he is "very sure there will be an understanding in two weeks with the Sena and that there will be a majority government in Maharashtra."
On Friday, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had attended Mr Fadnavis's oath-taking ceremony, but later sources in the Sena said that the party had conveyed to the BJP that the latter should decide on an alliance - one way or another - before the vote of confidence. The BJP has been given 15 days by the Maharashtra governor to hold a trust vote.
Unless there is an agreement before that date, sources in the Sena said they will not support the government.
Mr Rudy's comments however today are an indication that a breakthrough in negotiations between the BJP and Sena are likely in the days to come.
Mr Rudy also said that it was "graceful of Uddhav Thackeray to attend the swearing-in ceremony."
The two longtime-partners had terminated a 25-year alliance in Maharashtra in September days before the state elections. But the breakdown of the alliance had cost the Sena dearly with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party in the elections with 123 seats. The Sena had further lost its bargaining power after Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party offering unconditional support to the BJP government.