BJP delays meet with Maharashtra Guv; waits for Sena's response

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which was scheduled to meet the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday as just few days are left for the state government's tenure to end, the party postponed the meeting late afternoon to wait and watch for ally Shiv Sena’s response even as the stalemate between the warring allies over government formation continued.

The BJP announced that it will meet governor on Thursday afternoon to inform him of the political situation and ongoing efforts to form the government. BJP state chief Chandrakant Patil and finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar are to meet Koshiyari at Raj Bhavan.

The deferment, many feel, is to wait and see what stand the Shiv Sena will take after party chief Uddhav Thackeray meets MLAs at 11.30 am where he is expected to discuss the government formation stand-off.

Maharashtra Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday said his party is not in favour of forming a minority government in the state.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the BJP delegation's meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Mungantiwar said there should be no doubt about Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' "leadership and acceptance" across party lines.

The BJP is against forming a minority government in Maharashtra," he said, amid the continuing deadlock over formation of government even 14 days after the Assembly polls verdict. Mungantiwar said the BJP delegation, led by state unit president Chandrakant Patil, was going to meet the governor to inform him about the BJP's stand once the tenure of the existing Assembly ends on November 9.

Asked about Shiv Sena's insistence on sharing the chief minister's post, Mungantiwar said, "Fadnavis is not just a BJP leader, but he should be seen as Sena's chief minister as well. There should be no doubt about his leadership and acceptance across the party lines."

Mungantiwar also dismissed rumours that Union minister Nitin Gadkari may be appointed as the state's chief minister. "Nitinji will never come to Maharashtra. It is not even his distant dream to come to Maharashtra as chief minister," he said.

The BJP and the Sena are locked in a stand-off over the post of chief minister in new government and sharing of ministerial portfolios. In the recent assembly polls, the BJP won the maximum 105 seats in the 288-member House. The Sena won 56 seats.