Shiv Sena Says Haven't Received Seat-sharing Proposal as BJP Set to Meet Maharashtra Governor Today

New Delhi: A fortnight after the announcement of the Assembly election results, prospects of a new government being formed in Maharashtra brightened on Wednesday, with BJP leaders slated to meet the governor on Thursday and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) making it clear it will prefer to sit in the opposition.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose party has refused to give up its claim on the post of the rotational chief minister, said his party chief Uddhav Thackeray is yet to get any proposal from the BJP.

The tenure of the current Assembly ends in two days and a special three-day session of the House may be convened next week to swear in the new MLAs, said sources.

A resolution to the BJP-Sena stalemate over government formation is expected and a new dispensation may take office before the term of the outgoing Assembly ends, they added.

Sources from both parties said back-channel talks are on between the two allies and a breakthrough is expected. “We expect a breakthrough. If all goes well, we can have a government by November 9," said a source on condition of anonymity.

However, it was not clear what concession the BJP might offered to the Sena if the Uddhav Thackeray-led party decides to bury the hatchet. A senior BJP functionary asserted the party will not compromise on the post of chief minister.

A delegation of the BJP will meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday "with a message approved by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis," senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said.

The BJP and the Sena are locked in a standoff over the post of chief minister in new government and sharing of ministerial portfolios.

In the recent Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 105 seats in the 288-member House. The Sena won 56.

Claiming that the BJP had agreed to a "50-50" formula on power-sharing in the state, the Sena has demanded that the top seat be shared between the two.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the mandate for his party and its ally Congress is to sit in the opposition. It is for the BJP-Sena to form the government, he added.

Pawar asked the haggling allies to form the government at the earliest, asserting his party and the Congress will work as a "responsible opposition".

Addressing a press conference here after meeting Raut, Pawar ruled out joining the Sena in government with the outside support of the Congress, an idea doing the rounds in political circles for the last few days.

"Where is the question (of a non-BJP government)?" he asked, saying the BJP and the Sena have been in alliance for 25 years, and they "will come together sooner or later".

"If we had the numbers, we wouldn't have waited for anyone. The Congress and the NCP didn't cross the 100 mark. We will work as a responsible opposition," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)