Even after a week of announcement of results for the October 21 Assembly elections, there appears to be no headway in government formation in Maharashtra, with allies BJP and Shiv Sena still at loggerheads over the quantum of power sharing.
There have been a series of meetings between senior leaders of major non-BJP parties, triggering talks in political circles about possibility of the Sena forming a government with the backing of opposition parties.
The Shiv Sena however rubbished reports of a climbdown and again indicated it had not given up its claim on the post of chief minister and 50:50 division of portfolios. Adopting a harsh tone, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party on Thursday accused the BJP of enacting “second act” of the “use and throw” policy while dealing with its ally.
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut called on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at his residence in South Mumbai, triggering speculation about the possible formation of an alternative government in the state. However, Raut said the meeting was a “courtesy call”.
“It isn’t unusual for me to meet Mr Pawar. I meet him often. We discussed the current political scenario in the state, among other things,” said Raut, who had also met Pawar on the day of results.
The developments came after Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde was on Thursday elected the party’s leader in the state legislature. His candidature was proposed by party leader Aaditya Thackeray, whose name was also doing the rounds for the post.
Shiv Sena won 56 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly election seven less than 2014. The NCP got 54 seats while the Congress won 44. Both improved their tally over 2014. The Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar emerged as the real gainer from the Maharashtra Assembly election.
Secondly, the Congress may play the kingmaker and declare outside support to a Shiv Sena-NCP government. This way, the Congress may have control over the power levers of Maharashtra.
The BJP has 105 seats 17 less than 2014 but in alliance with the Shiv Sena, they have 161 MLAs in the newly elected Maharashtra Assembly.