NCP will explore options only if BJP fails floor test

Mumbai: The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Wednesday said that it would consider other alternatives to form the government in Maharashtra only if the BJP-led government fails to prove its numbers on the floor of the house. The BJP is 40 seats’ short of the magic number — 145 — to form the government in Maharashtra.

Mumbai NCP president and chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “If the BJP fails to pass the floor test in the state Legislative Assembly and its government collapses, the NCP will then contemplate other alternatives to form the government.”

The NCP held a meeting with party leaders, including party chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil and Mr Malik Malik.

Mr Patil said that the people had given NCP the mandate to sit in the Opposition. “We have been asked to sit in the Opposition by the people and we will discharge that duty,” he said.

Meanwhile, former deputy chief minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar is all set to become the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly.

Ajit was unanimously elected as the NCP’s group leader of the state Legislature at a meeting. Mr Patil proposed Ajit’s name and was seconded by Mr Malik, Dhananjay Munde, Jitendra Awhad, Hasan Musrif and Anil Deshmukh.

Speaking to the reporters, Ajit said that the NCP would point out the mistakes committed by the government. “We will keep tabs if the government is working in the right direction. We will ensure that there is no injustice meted out to any section of the society on the government’s watch,” Ajit said.

The Congress, meanwhile, ruled out any possibility of aligning with the Shiv Sena in forming the next government in Maharashtra.

Interestingly, former chief minister and senior leader Prithviraj Chavan had said that the Congress will “consider” any “concrete” proposal on government formation from the Sena. Talking to reporters, AICC general secretary incharge of Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said there was no question of aligning with the Sena in government formation. "The mandate for the Congress is to function as an opposition party," he said.

Since the announcement of the Assembly election results, both the NCP and Congress have maintained that the public has asked them to sit in the Opposition and they will fulfil that duty.

With 54 seats, the NCP emerged the principal Opposition party in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

The BJP is the single largest party in the Assembly by winning 105 out of 288 seats of the Assembly. The Shiv Sena and Congress won 56 and 44 seats respectively, in the Assembly election.