Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to visit New Delhi on Monday to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on the current stalemate over government formation in the state, a senior BJP leader said. The result of Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections were declared on October 24, but the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena have failed to close negotiations to form a government.
The BJP won 105 seats while the Sena got 56. A party needs support of 145 MLAs to prove its majority in the house. The Sena is asking for a rotation of the chief minister’s post, a demand that the BJP is not ready to accept. The BJP got the CM’s post in Maharashtra for the first time in 2014.
“Fadnavis will brief Shah about the current status of talks with Sena,” the BJP leader quoted above said requesting anonymity.
The term of current assembly ends on November 9, and if the Sena and BJP are unable to clinch a deal, then the state might be put under the president’s rule. “We hope the Sena will come on board. We may have to concede some important portfolios to Sena. CM’s post, however, is non-negotiable,” this leader said.
Sena is giving jitters to the BJP by sending out feelers to the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar, the Maratha veteran who has reached out to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to explore possibilities of a non-BJP led government in the state. Congress has remained non-committal. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 54 and the Congress 44 seats in this election. As many as 13 independent MLAs have also got elected along with those from smaller parties.
BJP sources indicate that meeting between Shah and Fadnavis will also discuss the situation in which the Sena refuses support a BJP chief minister.
Given that the BJP is the largest party, a BJP leader said, it may stake claim to form government.