In the ongoing political brinkmanship in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena seemed more willing on Monday to cede ground to the BJP.

Giving nothing away, BJP leaders in Delhi maintained that the party is ready to run a minority government if the Sena is not willing to join the alliance unconditionally.

At present, the BJP holds all the cards for two main reasons — the outside support offered by Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP); and the fact that without the BJP’s support, the Sena cannot continue to rule the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) besides many other local bodies.

However, the tough posturing does not rule out the possibility of the Sena joining the State Government. After all, the BJP has not yet withdrawn support to the Sena in the BMC. Nor has it sacked Sena minister Anant Geete from the Union Cabinet.

These, and the fact that Sena MPs were invited to a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, indicate that the BJP is still open to the Sena joining the government in Maharashtra.

For the moment, the party is tight-lipped on how far negotiations with the Sena have progressed. “There is no negotiation. The Sena basically has no option. They will come around before the swearing-in,” said a BJP source.

The BJP’s central observers, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party general secretary JP Nadda, will visit Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon.

The Maharashtra BJP legislature party is scheduled to meet at 4 pm on Tuesday, when it will elect its leader. In all likelihood, Devendra Fadnavis will be elected and his perceived rival Nitin Gadakari may propose his name, apparently to snuff factionalism in the party.

Following the meeting of the legislature party, the party will stake its claim to form the government. It may happen on Tuesday night or the next day, October 29. The Maharashtra government is expected to be sworn in by Friday.

Meanwhile, the Sena was clearly showing signs of recognising the BJP’s dominant role in the alliance. It admitted that the Chief Minister’s post belongs to the BJP.

“On the day of Laxmi Pooja, (Devendra) Fadnavis met (Nitin) Gadkari and took his blessings. Later Gadkari met the RSS chief and took his blessings.

“All these blessings are undoubtedly important, but the blessings of the people are the most important. Shiv Sena is ready to support anyone who will take Maharashtra ahead with the blessings of the people,” the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana .

BJP MLA is dead Even as the BJP was preparing for government formation, it received a setback in the sudden death of the party’s newly-elected MLA, Govind Rathod. He passed away late on Sunday evening following a massive heart attack, bringing down the strength of the BJP in the Maharashtra Assembly to 121.

Rathod was elected to Assembly from Mukhed, near Nanded city. He suffered a stroke while travelling on Devgiri Express to Mumbai. After the attack, he was admitted to a hospital in Jalna, central Maharashtra, but did not survive.

Fadnavis, along with other leaders, hurriedly cancelled all previous engagements and rushed to Mukhed on Monday.

Rathod’s sudden death led the party to reschedule the swearing in ceremony to Friday, party sources said.

It was earlier planned for Wednesday morning.

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