Sharad Pawar and the Congress have adopted a wait-and-watch approach to the tussle between the Shiv Sena and the BJP that has continued for 11 days since results were declared on 24 October
“As of today, the mandate is to sit in Opposition, but I can’t say what will happen in the state,” Pawar told reporters after his meeting with Gandhi where the Maratha strongman told reporters he had briefed her on the ground situation in Maharashtra.
The BJP and Sena fought the elections together and secured 105 seats and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member assembly. The NCP bagged 54 seats and the Congress 44. The majority mark in the legislative assembly is 145.
Pawar and the Congress have adopted a wait-and-watch approach to the tussle between the Sena and the BJP that has continued for 11 days since results were declared on October 24. The BJP and Sena have, however, not been able to decide on the power sharing formula because the Sena, this time the junior partner in the saffron alliance, is insisting on sharing the chief minister’s chair too.
BJP leaders had been dismissive about the demand right after results were announced. But Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray took offence to Chief Minister Fadnavis telling reporters that there never was a 50-50 power sharing pact between the two sides. In the days that followed, Uddhav Thackeray told his party’s lawmakers that this indirectly implied that he hadn’t spoken the truth.
The Sena’s overtures to the NCP started soon after, first with Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut driving down to Sharad Pawar’s house in Mumbai to belatedly extend Diwali greetings. Raut later told reporters they also discussed politics.
Sharad Pawar did not respond to questions on his party’s stand on backing the Shiv Sena, which has claimed that the party had the numbers, insisting that the NCP had not received a proposal from the Sena that he could react to or discuss with Sonia Gandhi.\
“There has been no communication between Shiv Sena and NCP… BJP is responsible for forming the government in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena’s chief Uddhav Thackeray has not sought NCP’s support,” he said.
Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi in Delhi coincided with a meeting between Sena’s Sanjay Raut and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Emerging from the hour-long meeting, Raut told reporters that he believed that “whoever has a majority in the state can form the government”.
Prasanta Patnaik