New Delhi: Eleven days after the Maharashtra Assembly election results were announced, there is still no sign of a new government formation in the State.
On Monday, all the political action shifted to New Delhi as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reached here to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar held talks with Congress President Sonia Gandhi to decide what steps to take in the Assembly.
Sources said the stalemate between BJP and Shiv Sena continues and there is no chance of the swearing-in of the new chief minister taking place for at least two more days.
“There is a need to form a government in Maharashtra at the earliest,” Fadnavis said on Monday after meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
As the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena continue their tussle over government formation in the State, Fadnavis reached here on Monday morning to meet Shah at his residence, party insiders said. He also met Gadkari at his residence, which gave rise to speculation over whether Gadkari’s name was being discussed for Maharashtra’s chief ministership.
“There is need to form the government in Maharashtra at the earliest... I am sure, I am confident that the government will be formed,” Fadnavis told reporters after the meeting. He later met BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav who was in charge of the elections in Maharashtra. Unlike the last Assembly elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena this time fought elections in alliance with each other. The BJP won 105 seats and the Shiv Sena 56.
The hurdle Together, the BJP and the Shiv Sena are well above the magic figure of 145 but Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena has been adamant on a 50-50 agreement and sharing of chief minister’s post, while BJP’s Fadnavis has rubbished both. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday and requested him to invite the single largest party to form the government. The BJP is the single largest party with 105 MLAs. This move by Sena is to unravel BJP’s
strategy.
‘Sena has not sought NCP support’
The responsibility of forming the government in Maharashtra is with the BJP, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday after meeting Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi here.