BJP to not form govt in Maharashtra; Guv invites Sena to stake claim

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced that it would not form government in Maharashtra in view of the ally Shiv Sena's stand to not join them in the efforts.

Announcing the BJP's decision, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, which is adamant on its demand for a rotational chief ministership, of "disrespecting" the popular mandate secured by the BJP and the Sena in recent Assembly polls.

"The mandate of the people of Maharashtra was for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. Sena has, however, disrespected the mandate, hence we have decided to not stake claim to form government. We have informed our decision to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari," Patil told reporters outside Raj Bhavan.

He wished "good luck" to the Sena if it wanted to form the government with the help of other parties.

After the BJP conveyed its unwillingness to form the government, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked Shiv Sena, the second largest party in Maharashtra Assembly, to “indicate willingness and ability to form the government”, a Raj Bhavan statement said.

The BJP and the Sena had together won 161 seats in the 288-member House, way above the halfway mark of 145.

Reacting to the BJP's announcement that it would not form government in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the party would install its chief minister at any cost.

"Maharashtra will have Sena's chief minister at any cost. Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday informed the party MLAs that Sena will have its chief minister," Raut told reporters.

The BJP on Sunday announced that it would not form government in Maharashtra in view of the ally Shiv Sena's stand to not join them in the efforts.

"How will BJP have its chief minister when they are not staking a claim to form government," Raut said.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik has said that if Shiv Sena seeks his party's support, it will consider about it.

But first, the Sena will have to walk out of the BJP-led National Democratic Allaince (NDA) and all its ministers at the Centre will have to resign, he underlined.

He said that so far there is no communication from Sena's side for seeking NCP's support. He said the final decision about whether to extend support to Shiv Sena for it to form the government will be taken "together by Congress and NCP", as has already been declared by party chief Sharad Pawar.

The NCP has called a meeting of its MLAs on November 12.