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Pacifying bid? BJP says won’t form minority government; not staking claim today
The statement comes within hours of the Shiv Sena, through its mouthpiece Saamna, accusing the BJP of using ‘money power’ to win over recently-elected MLAs.
In what is seen as an attempt to pacify its warring ally Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said that it will not form a minority government in Maharashtra and that the scheduled meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was to apprise him of the political situation and not to stake claim.
The statement comes within hours of the Shiv Sena, through its mouthpiece Saamna, accusing the BJP of using ‘money power’ to win over recently-elected MLAs.
“BJP will not form a minority government in Maharashtra. No one is going to break the Shiv Sena. We have not taken any step towards any other party, our every effort has been to ensure that the government is formed with Sena, as the mandate is for us together,” said finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.
“Sena or BJP MLAs are not the sort who will defect or break away. Our MLAs stayed even when we were in Opposition for 15 years. There is no question of breaking Sena MLAs,” he said.
He also said that the BJP will not stake claim to form the government on Thursday but will discuss the ongoing political scenario with the governor to ensure that a stable government is formed.
Mungantiwar added that talks between the two allies Sena and BJP were on to break the deadlock. However, he evaded the question of Shiv Sena’s demand for rotational chief minister saying that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should be seen as a Sena representative as well.
On the purported reports of the BJP exploring other options to form the government in the state, Mungantiwar said, “In politics, equations change every day as per ground scenario. So, on certain issues we will wait and watch. But, so far we have not thought of any option other than forming government with Sena.”
Allies BJP and Shiv Sena have been at odds over a power-sharing pact since the results of the Assembly elections were announced on October 24. While BJP is the single-largest party with 105 seats, Sena has 56 seats in the 288-member Assembly. The standoff has been over sharing the chief minister’s post and important ministerial berths, with Sena insisting that an agreement was reached on the same in pre-poll talks and BJP denying it.
