BJP, Sena back together after glitch

The BJP and the Shiv Sena are back together in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP announced yesterday that the Sena will join his government and that the two parties will also fight future elections together.

"I urged the Shiv Sena to join the government....We have decided to run the government together," Mr Fadnavis said, ending days of tense negotiations and feuding. He was flanked by leaders of the Shiv Sena and his party.

The 44-year-old chief minister said 12 Sena ministers would be sworn into his government, five of Cabinet rank and the rest ministers of state, tomorrow. Portfolios, he said, would be decided by this evening. There will be no Deputy Chief Minister, a Shiv Sena demand that held up talks for days.

Maharashtra's Raj Bhavan has been informed that new ministers will take oath at 4 pm on Friday. Sources said 20 new minster are expected to be sworn in. Mr Fadnavis had taken oath last month in a grand function at the famous Wankehde stadium with ten ministers.