BJP made no promise to Shiv Sena on sharing of the Chief Minister's post, said Amit Shah (File)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday termed the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra as a "three-wheel auto-rickshaw" and accused it of failing on all fronts.
Speaking after inaugurating a private medical college at Kankavli in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, Mr Shah said all wheels of this auto-rickshaw were moving in different directions.
"This is an unholy alliance made by betraying the people's mandate which was for a BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Devendra Fadnavis," he said.
He alleged the alliance was made for the lust of power, and asserted that no promise was made before the 2019 Assembly polls about sharing of the chief minister's post in the state by the then allies BJP and Shiv Sena.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with the BJP after the Assembly polls in 2019 over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post in the state, and later forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to come to power.
Mr Thackeray had claimed that Mr Shah, who was the BJP president, assured at Matoshree' (Thackeray's home in Mumbai's Bandra area) that the CM's post would be shared by the two parties, but the BJP later went back on the promise.
However, Mr Shah on Sunday reiterated that no promise was made to the Shiv Sena on sharing of the chief minister's post.
"I don't make promises in closed rooms. Whatever I do, I do it openly...I don't do politics in closed rooms," the Union minister said.
It is being alleged the BJP broke the promise, Mr Shah said and stressed that his party honours its promises.
"We don't speak white lies. We are the ones who honour commitments. In Bihar, we said if the NDA gets more seats, Nitish Kumar will continue to be CM," he said.
The BJP got more seats than the JD(U) and Nitish Kumar said the BJP should have its chief minister, he noted.
"But we said the BJP has already given its word that he (Nitish Kumar) will remain the CM," Mr Shah said.
Hitting out at Mr Thackeray, Mr Shah said the Mr Sena president addressed rallies with him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
In the posters of Shiv Sena candidates, PM Modi's pictures were bigger than Mr Thackeray's, he said.
"We sought votes for the BJP-Sena led by Fadnavis, why didn't you speak out that time? You just took votes in the name of Modiji," Mr Shah said.
The BJP made "no promise" to the Shiv Sena on sharing of the CM's post, he asserted.