MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday invited the Shiv Sena, the second largest party, to stake claim to form government, hours after the BJP declined such attempt.
“The Sena will have to inform the governor about its stand by Monday (November 11) evening 7.30 pm,” a Raj Bhavan official said.
In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP and the Sena each has 105 and 56 MLAs, respectively. Opposition Congress and NCP won 44 and 54 seats, respectively, in recent assembly polls. The halfway mark is 145. Koshyari asked Sena legislative party leader Eknath Shinde to “indicate willingness and ability” of the party to form government in Maharashtra, a Raj Bhavan statement said.
The governor had on Saturday invited the BJP, the single largest party, to stake claim to form government. However, with the BJP unable to muster numbers in view of the Sena’s stand not to support it on the issue of sharing of power and the post of the chief minister, the party on Sunday declined to form government.
“The Governor has, therefore, asked the leader of elected members of the second largest party, Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde, to convey its willingness and ability to form the government,” the statement said.
With the BJP backing off from the race, the onus to form government now rests with the Sena, which has indicated that it might rope in the Congress and the NCP to prop up a government. Sena MP Sanjay Raut had earlier claimed support of 170 MLAs.
Earlier, BJP State President Chandrakant Patil said that party’s stand has been conveyed to the Governor on Sunday evening after a series of marathon meetings of the party’s state core committee since morning.
Outgoing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis – who had confidently proclaimed till Saturday that the BJP would form the government – was conspicuous by his absence.
Reacting to the development, NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik said that there is no formal proposal from the Sena on the government formation.
The opposition Congress also conducted informal discussions with its legislators, currently flown to Jaipur, to gauge their mood on supporting the Sena, though the party high command has already expressed its reluctance in the matter.
There were contradictory opinions in Mumbai – while former city President Sanjay Nirupam reiterated that the Congress should keep off the Sena at all costs, another former city chief Milind M. Deora suggested exploring a Congress-NCP government with Sena support.
Political activity gathered speed after Koshyari took the reins in his hands and late on Saturday invited the to form the next government, barely four hours before the tenure of the state Assembly expired at midnight.
Besides the 105 members, the BJP had claimed the support of several independents and smaller parties, though the exact figures are not clear, and whether these would be sufficient to achieve the simple majority of 145. (Agencies)
