New Delhi: As the NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena deliberated through out the day over the government formation, the BJP on Monday adopted a “wait and watch” approach as Maharashtra governor, B.S. Koshiyari, invited Sharad Pawar led NCP to form the next government, after inviting the BJP and the Sena earlier. For the Sena, which not only quit the NDA fold but also its ‘Hindutva” ally over the chief minister’s post and then allied with ideological opponents — Congress and NCP — just to stitch a coalition government for the top post in the state, the development came as a bad news. Just few months back, Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray had famously said that “Hindutva is the thread that binds” both the BJP and the Sena together. Sena’s lone member in the Narendra Modi government, Arvind Sawant tendered his resignation earlier during the day. With 105 MLAs, the BJP was the largest party in the recently concluded assembly polls but short of a simple majority and after initial efforts to retain power, decided to “put all cards on the table.”
Despite Mr Thackeray meeting with the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar in Mumbai, the Sena failed to get a letter of support from either the NCP or the Congress, whose leadership held series of meetings through out the day. He also called the Congress working president Sonia Gandhi. However, the Sena claimed that both the NCP and Congress have agreed “in-principle” to back its government without the BJP.
“Uddhav Thackeray and the Sena have betrayed Maharashtra, which voted for the Mahayuti. Sena agreed to join hands with the Congress, its ideological opponent which shows how desperate the Sena is for the CM’s post,” said a senior BJP leader.
Since October 24, the BJP and Sena had remained adamant on their respective stand. While the Sena claimed that both had agreed on power sharing, including the CM’s post, the BJP maintained that the CM’s post was non-negotiable. The BJP got the largest number of seats in the assembly polls but remained short of a simple majority with 105 seats in the 288 member assembly. With 56 seats, the Shiv Sena came as the second largest party and its request for more time was rejected by the governor on Monday.
