BJP not to form Govt in Mah, blames Sena for disrespecting mandate
   Date :11-Nov-2019

  • “If Sena is in a position to form the Government along with the support of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party, our best wishes are with them,” said BJP State President Chandrakant Patil
  • No formal proposal from the Sena on the Government formation: NCP
IN A stunning political development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday conceded its inability to form the Government in Maharashtra despite having the public mandate for its pre-poll alliance. BJP State President Chandrakant Patil said that party’s stand has been conveyed to Governor B S Koshyari on Sunday evening after a series of marathon meetings of the Party’s State core committee since morning.
 
“The Shiv Sena has insulted the public mandate... If it is in a position to form the Government along with the support of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party, our best wishes are with them,” said Patil, who was flanked by his former Minister colleagues like Ashish Shelar, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde, Pankaja Munde and Girish Mahajan, at the brief media interaction on the lawns of Raj Bhawan. Outgoing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis - who has confidently proclaimed till Saturday that the BJP would form the Government - was conspicuous by his absence. Reacting to the development, NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik said that there is no formal proposal from the Sena on the Government formation.
 

 
 
“However, our national President will clear the party’s stand at our party legislators’ meeting scheduled in Mumbai on Tuesday,” Malik told media persons. The Opposition Congress also conducted informal discussions with its legislators, currently flown to Jaipur, to gauge their mood on supporting the Sena, though the party high command has already expressed its reluctance in the matter. There were contradictory opinions in Mumbai - while former city President Sanjay Nirupam reiterated that the Congress should keep off the Sena at all costs, another former city chief Milind M Deora suggested exploring a Congress-NCP Government with Sena support.
 
Political activity gathered speed after Governor Koshyari took the reins in his hands and late on Saturday invited the BJP - the single-largest party with 105 MLAs - to indicate its willingness to form the next Government, barely four hours before the tenure of the State Assembly expired at midnight. Besides the 105 members, the BJP had claimed the support of several independents and smaller parties, though the exact figures are not clear, and whether these would be sufficient to achieve the simple majority of 145 in the 288-member assembly. Experts have said that in case the BJP is not able to muster sufficient numbers, then the Governor would invite the second largest party - the Shiv Sena, followed by the remaining two parties, the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress to explore the possibility of forming the next Government.
 
 
Cong doesn’t want President’s Rule:
THE Congress in Maharashtra on Sunday said it didn’t want President’s Rule in the State which is in the midst of a political crisis in view of the BJP’s announcement that it would not form Government. Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan said newly-elected MLAs of the party will seek advice from the party high-command over its future political stand in the State.
 
“We are in Jaipur. We will seek advice for the future political stand. The party doesn’t want President’s Rule in the State,” he told reporters.