BJP says can’t form govt in Maharashtra, blames Shiv Sena for disrespecting mandate

BJP’s state chief Chandrakant Patil addressed the media on Sunday evening and said, “If Shiv Sena wants to insult this mandate and form the government with Congress and NCP, then we wish them all the luck.”

Caretaker chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and other senior BJP leaders met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday evening and informed him that the party could not stake claim to form the government as ally Shiv Sena was not willing to cooperate.

BJP leaders Ashish Shelar, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde interact with the media after meeting Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. (Pratik Chorge/HT)

“We cannot stake claim to form the government as Shiv Sena is not willing to come with us. We have informed this to the governor,” State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil told reporters.

“In the state assembly polls, we contested as part of a grand alliance ‘Mahayuti’ and we got the mandate for this alliance. If Shiv Sena wants to insult this mandate and form the government with Congress and NCP, then we wish them all the luck,” Patil said after the BJP’s second core committee meeting to announce its stand on the Governor’s invitation to form government concluded on Sunday evening.

WATCH | ‘Sena insulted mandate’: BJP tells Maharashtra Governor it can’t form govt

After hectic parleys on Saturday, the BJP’s core committee met on Sunday at Fadnavis’ residence but could not finalise its response to the Maharashtra Governor’s invitation to form the government initially.

The core committee met again at 4 pm to announce its stand on the Governor’s invitation to form government, according to BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar.

BJP general secretary, in-charge of Maharashtra, Bhupendra Yadav joined the party’s core committee meeting later in the evening reportedly with a message from the party’s central leadership.

Governor Koshyari’s invitation to BJP to form the government on Saturday came hours before the five-year tenure of the Assembly ended at midnight.

The BJP’s core committee comprises about half a dozen members including senior ministers and the president of the party’s Maharashtra unit Chandrakant Patil.