Uddhav Thackeray keeps guessing game on

Amid the bitter tussle between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray added to the ambiguity, saying “people will know in

Amid the bitter tussle between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray added to the ambiguity, saying “people will know in the coming days, if my party will be in power”. Even as the Sena chief kept the BJP leadership guessing about the party’s stance, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Thackeray was on the brink of a “final decision”.

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Thackeray’s statement came hours after Raut claimed the party could get the support of close to 175 MLAs. The Sena has maintained it is exploring other political alternatives, which were fuelled by last week’s interactions between Raut and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. “Uddhavji has already said that options are open. One of the options is nearly finalised,” Raut said, without divulging the details.

Amid political uncertainty, Sena chief toured Aurangabad district on Sunday to check the crop damage in the villages owing to unseasonal rain. Responding to a query from reporters there on Sunday, Thackeray said, “You will come to know in the coming days, if the Shiv Sena will be in power.” He refused to answer any questions regarding the current political scenario in the state.

The talks between the saffron allies are stalled after Fadnavis’s statement that he would be the CM and that there was no 50-50 formula between the allies. The statements irked the Sena chief.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was on a tour of Akola district to take stock of the losses due to the untimely rainfall, expressed confidence that a government would be formed soon. The statement by the chief minister came at a time when no formal talks are happening between the two allies. “The deadlock will end soon and a new government will be formed soon,” Fadnavis told the media in Akola.

Fadnavis, who confidently said he would continue as the chief minister in the new government all this while, however, did not show similar confidence on Sunday.

A senior BJP leader, who is close to the chief minister, said, “The talks haven’t resumed yet and no fresh proposal has been given. The CM is out of Mumbai. We will discuss and decide the course of action.” Meanwhile, in a bid to put pressure on the BJP, the Sena leaders could meet Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday requesting him to invite the single largest party, BJP, to form the government.

Raut, on Sunday, said the talks with the BJP will only happen on the chief minister’s post. He also expressed confidence that his party will install a chief minister and that he would take oath at Shivaji Park (Shiv Tirth), in Dadar, which has a special significance for the party as Sena founder Bal Thackeray held his first political rally at the ground. “We have more than 170 MLAs supporting us, the figure can even reach 175,” Raut claimed. He also alleged the BJP was using muscle power to threaten legislators to support the BJP.

Amid speculations that Sena is exploring a possibility to get NCP’s backing to form the government, Sena leader Raut reached out to NCP’s Ajit Pawar on Sunday. Pawar showed reporters a text message from Raut which contained a formal introduction and greeting from the latter.

“I received a message from Sanjay Raut a while ago, I was in a meeting so couldn’t respond. This is the first time after elections that he has contacted me. I don’t know why he has messaged me. I will call him in a while,” he said, adding the NCP was firm on sitting on the Opposition benches.

In his weekly column in party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said that if the BJP fails to prove a majority on the floor of the House, the Sena could stake claim with support of 54 NCP and 44 Congress MLAs with others and independents.

In one of the five scenarios mentioned in his column, Raut said, “If the BJP fails to prove a majority on the floor of the House, then the second largest party, Shiv Sena, can stake claim to form the government. The Shiv Sena will have its chief minister and the party should have the courage to run the government. As three different parties will be in power, there will be a need for a Common Minimum Programme and taking everyone along which will be in the state’s interest,” he said.

In another scenario, Raut said the Sena and BJP, which contested the polls in an alliance, would have to come together “out of compulsion and both will have to take some steps backward. The chief minister’s post will have to be shared”.

Meanwhile, reacting to the allegation that the BJP is using “goons” to threaten MLA to support the BJP, senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan said, “I don’t know where the goons were used or who got any threats. If Sanjay Rautji knows of any such incident, he must tell us; give us evidence that someone was threatened. I feel such statements add strain on the alliance and it should not be done… We are currently in a ‘wait-and-watch’ mode. We still have time till November 9; it will be resolved.”