Following the breakup with BJP, former NDA partner Shiva Sena will now sit with the Opposition benches in both the House of Parliament beginning Monday’s Winter Session. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said here on Sunday. Shiv Sena MPs are being allotted seats on the Opposition side in both Houses of Parliament as its Minister has resigned and the party is “working out” alliance with the Congress and NCP to form Government in Maharashtra.
Further, the recent tussle between NDA partners, Lok Jan Shakti party chief Chirag Paswan said an NDA convener should be appointed for better coordination among alliance partners.
Arvind Sawant, the lone Sena minister in the Union council of ministers submitted his resignation last Monday. The party said on Saturday that it would not attend a meeting of NDA constituents on the eve of the winter session of Parliament. “Shiv Sena’s minister has resigned from the NDA government… they are not attending today’s NDA meeting and working out alliance with the Congress and the NCP. So it is natural that they will be allotted seats on the opposition side in both houses,” Joshi told reporters after the all-party meeting.
According to sources, all the three Shiv Sena MPs in the Rajya Sabha have been allocated seats on the opposition side, while in the Lok Sabha it is yet to be done. The decades-old alliance between the Shiv Sena and BJP turned sour after the former pressed for the demand of sharing the chief ministerial post in Mahrashtra. It is now holding parleys with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form a non-BJP government in the state.
Paswan, speaking to reporters after an NDA meeting ahead of the winter session of Parliament, said Shiv Sena’s absence was felt at the meet as it was one of the oldest National Democratic Alliance member. “There should be better coordination among allies and an NDA convener should be appointed,” he said.
It’s a matter of concern that the Telugu Desam Party left the alliance first and then the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party did.
“But all of us (allies) will work together in the upcoming session and more such meetings should happen,” said Paswan, who was appointed the LJP chief earlier this month.
