Maharashtra Governor may have explored last option

Mumbai: After asking the NCP if it is wiling to form the next governemnt in Maharashtra, governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari may have explored his last option for governemnt formation. According to experts, if the NCP fails to provide letter of support from at least 145 MLAs and the governor comes to the conclusion that no party can form, then President’s rule shall be imposed in the state.

After the meeting with the govenor, Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray said the party has expressed its willingness to form the government and sought more time to garner support from other parties, which the govenor has rejected. “But we have staked claim to form the government and the governor has not rejected our claim,” he said.

However, experts feel that merely staking claim is not enough and Shiv Sena has lost its chance. Now it will have to rely on the Congress and NCP to stake claim and could join them in the government.

“It is upto the governor if he wants to invite Congress if NCP fails to satisfy him that it could form the governent. He could also call back the BJP and Sena as an alliance to form the governemnt, as both parties had contested the election as an alliance. Even NCP could inform the govenor that it will form the government along with Shiv Sena and Congress. The NCP could propose to form the government under Sena’s chief minister. But whether to accept such claim or not is governor’s disretion,” said a political observer.

Senior counsel Amit Desai, who has argued several important cases in the Bombay high court and the Supreme Court, said since the BJP and Shiv Sena have technically still not broken their alliance, the question of them forming the government jointly cannot be ruled out. He reiterated that the governor will go down the path of inviting each party to stake claim to form government.

“If none of the parties are able to form government, then the last option is the President’s rule,” Mr Desai said.