Alliance With BJP Not Over Yet, Maharashtra CM Will Be From Shiv Sena: Uddhav Thackeray Tells MLAs

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting the party MLAs at a resort at Madh Island in suburban Mumbai. Thackeray told lawmakers that next Maharashtra chief minister will be from Shiv Sena and asked them to not get lured by any kind of temptation. He also emphasised that the pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party is not over yet. 

The meeting was also attended Arvind Ganpat Sawant and party leader Diwakar Raote.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party would declare its next strategy once no one else is able to form government in Maharashtra, and asserted that politics was not a trade for his party.

Without taking name of any individual or party, he said the bubble of being "invincible" has burst and the arrogance of "buying" a politician to form government will no longer work in the state.

The Shiv Sena "will step in" ifno one forms government, Raut told reporters here.

He also welcomed the decision of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite the BJP to form government in the state.

"I welcome the governor's decision to invite the BJP. The single largest party had to be called. We fail to understand why the BJP did not stake claim in 24 hours (after results) if it was confident that it had the majority," the Rajya Sabha member said.

"I don't think the BJP has enough strength to stake claim for government formation...I am told the governor has asked the BJP to inform him about its decision by 8 pm on November 11," he said.

On the Sena's future course of action, he said, "Let the picture be clear on the first step by governor. The Shiv Sena will declare its strategy if no one else is able to form the government."

The BJP won 105 seats in the October 21 elections, while the majority mark in the 288-member Assembly is 145. Its ally Shiv Sena won 56 seats, but the two parties are bickering over the chief minister's post.