BJP certain of securing majority in House

The Bharatiya Janata Party is pulling out all stops to win the majority in the 288-member state assembly but without much hoopla and away from the eye of the media.

It is learnt that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has got a section of party leaders from his close aide and water resources minister Girish Mahajan to a party new entrant and former Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil to start tapping legislators, who are willing to support their government.

Besides its own 105 legislators and 15 independents (currently it has support letters of 11 MLAs), the BJP is counting on deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar bringing in 27 to 30 MLAs of the NCP to support it. This can take the party strength to 143 to 146. The half way mark in the house is 145.

But, with NCP chief Sharad Pawar putting up a fight, the BJP is keen on bolstering the numbers to be on the safer side on the day of the trust vote. “We are relying on Pawar and he is confident of bringing in 27-29 MLAs. For years now he has been managing party affairs and he funded election expenses of so many of his party MLAs. He has also helped some Congress and Sena legislators,’’ said a senior BJP leader.

Besides NCP MLAs, the party is looking at getting maximum independent and smaller party legislators on its side. There are 29 such MLAs, including 8 who had given their support to the Shiv Sena. With Sena now focusing its guard on its own 56 legislators, BJP leaders said several of the independents who supported the Sena will join the BJP.

“…we think ultimately we will get support of 19-20 MLAs in this group barring members of parties like Samajwadi Party and AIMIM,’’ the leader added.

Getting these legislators on board meant agreeing to some of their demands, which could include appointment to the public sector undertaking, a ministerial portfolio or a stake in a specific project, he added.

Another BJP leader said that while the party was not actively looking at Sena and Congress legislators, there were some from these two parties who would prefer to join the government. The party has identified and sent feelers to such MLAs.

However, the BJP-led government’s success depends on whether Ajit can pull off a coup against his uncle and his party.

Fadnavis, who attended a meeting of party legislators, told them he was confident of getting majority in the House.

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