mumbai

Updated: Nov 11, 2019 15:43 IST

Arvind Sawant, the Shiv Sena minister who quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on Monday, said it wouldn’t have been “morally right” for him to continue. Holding up his resignation letter at a press conference in Delhi, Sawant alleged that the BJP has gone back on its pre-election promises with the Sena in Maharashtra.

Signalling that his resignation severed ties between the BJP and Sena, Sawant said, “I have submitted resignation to the Prime Minister’s Office today. I had sought time to meet the Prime Minister but was not given an appointment. You can imagine what this means for the alliance.”

Sawant added that there was an understanding between Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray and BJP president Amit Shah over a “50:50” power sharing formula.

The Sena was invited to form a government by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after the BJP abandoned its efforts.

Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had offered to support Sena on the condition that the latter would have to sever ties with the BJP and chalk out a common minimum programme.

The Congress leadership met in Delhi to decide on the issue of supporting the Sena but were unable to come to a conclusion. The Congress has summoned its senior leaders from Maharashtra for another round of discussions at 4 pm on Monday.

The NCP also held a meeting with its top brass and said they will decide on the future course of action after the Congress makes up its mind.

The BJP and Sena, pre-poll allies, have been at loggerheads since the Maharashtra election results were announced on October 24. The two allies are in disagreement over sharing the chief minister’s post.

“Shiv Sena and BJP had an alliance after Amit Shah had met Uddhav Thackeray and agreed to a 50:50 formula for every post including the chief minister’s. They have broken this trust and even worse, they have said that no such arrangement was agreed upon,” Sawant said.

“Trust means a lot for the Thackeray family, once they give their word they always honour it,” he added.