NEW DELHI/Mumbai: At the end of hectic day-long deliberations and countless meetings held by all stakeholders involved in the current political impasse in Maharashtra, the stalemate continues as the Congress Party remained undecided on supporting a Shiv Sena-led coalition government in Maharashtra.
On Monday evening, as the time given to the Shiv Sena to communicate a willingness to form the government ended, the governor of Maharashtra refused to give additional time to the Sena, opening up the possibility of President’s rule in Maharashtra.
NCP invited
As the Shiv Sena failed to submit requisite letter of support to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the governor has now called Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to show willingness to form a government in the State.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal met the governor on Monday night.
The governor called the NCP leader and handed over the letter to show willingness as the NCP is third largest party. The governor has given the Nationalist Congress Party time till 8 pm on Tuesday.
Jayant Patil said that they have informed the governor that the NCP will talk to their allies and will inform the governor by Tuesday night. “The governor had called us as we are the third largest party and asked to show the willingness and letter of support from other parties,” said Jayant Patil.
Congress’ dilly-dallying
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge announced at the end of a marathon CWC meeting in Delhi on Monday night that the party was undecided on whether to support the Sena-led government in the State and talks will continue, while former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the party had ample time to further discuss the matter and make a decision. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will take some decision in due course said Chavan.
The State capital was abuzz with the happenings and suspense over the government formation. Though the Shiv Sena staked claim to form a government, it could not submit the support from other parties in writing within the given period.
The Shiv Sena requested for an extended deadline to submit the support but was denied by the governor, paving way for President’s rule in Maharashtra.
The Shiv Sena was in a position to form a government with the help of NCP and Congress but the Congress remained undecided and did not give support in writing.
The epicentre was the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre where NCP Chief Sharad Pawar held a meeting with his core committee.
Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar met in Mumbai on Monday and decided to wait for the Congress to come to a decision.
Uddhav Thackeray held a conversation with Congress’s interim President Sonia Gandhi over the phone for five minutes.
After his conversation with Sonia Gandhi, the Congress agreed to extend outside support to Shiv Sena.
Aaditya Thackeray paid a visit to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari along with senior Shiv Sena leaders in the evening, just one hour before the end of the deadline.
After meeting Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Shiv Sena Yuva Sena President Aaditya Thackeray said that the governor had given the party little time to show willingness. “In the short period of 24 hours, we started talks with the other two parties and they have extended their ‘in principle support’ to Shiv Sena. But we have not received any letter of support from these parties. We asked the governor to extend the deadline but the governor denied us more time,” said Aaditya Thackeray.
The Congress, after a meeting of its core committee, said that the final decision on extending support to the Shiv Sena will be taken by the state leadership.
Shiv Sena finalised Uddhav Thackeray’s name as chief minister and floated the proposal to give deputy CM posts to the NCP and the Congress to take their support.
After the BJP’s refusal to form the government in the State, Koshyari had on Sunday night asked the Shiv Sena to ‘indicate the willingness and ability’ of the party to stake claim. The Shiv Sena is the second largest party in the 288-member House with 56 MLAs after the BJP’s 105 members.