As the deadline to stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra comes near, Congress has agreed to provide outside support to Shiv Sena.
The sources informed that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray received a positive response after he had a telephonic conversation with Congress interim President Sonia Gadhi. Gandhi informed Thackeray that she will get back to him after talking to the Congress MLAs.
Meanwhile, top Shiv Sena leaders including Eknath Shinde, Aditya Thackeray, Diwakar Raote, Anil Parab and Subhash Desai reached Raj Bhavan this evening to stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra.
While talking to the media at Raj Bhavan, Aditya Thackeray said that they met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and expressed Shiv Sena’s willingness to form the government in the state.
We were given only 24 hours to stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra and we have expressed our willingness to provide a stable government. NCP and Congress have assured to support us for the same but we don’t have the support letter as of now,” said Aditya Thackeray.
Thackeray further informed that Shiv Sena asked for another 48 hours to prove the majority. However, the Maharashtra Governor denied their request.
Earlier today, NCP took a position saying that they will wait for Congress to take a decision on the possibility of supporting Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, Congress leaders from Maharashtra were in a meeting with the party’s interim President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi for nearly two hours.
The Congress legislators tried to convince the party chief to back Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Of the 44 Congress MLAs, 40 of them are ready to support Sena to form the government, sources informed.
Sonia Gandhi also spoke to NCP chief Sharad Pawar on the phone and it was decided that final call on the matter will be taken only after the discussion between Congress and NCP.
The deadlock in Maharashtra over government formation still remains as the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance failed to form government in the state despite getting a clear majority of 161 seats. Shiv Sena and BJP managed to win on 56 and 105 seats, respectively.
BJP and Shiv Sena contested the assembly polls in Maharashtra together. However, the saffron alliance failed to form the government in the state. Since the declaration of assembly election results, Shiv Sena has been adamant on its demand to implement the 50-50 power-sharing formula.
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However, BJP didn’t agree to the demands of its ally Shiv Sena and maintained that the CM will be from their party. As of now, Shiv Sena is seeking the support of NCP and Congress alliance.