BJP Will Still Try To Form Maharashtra Government, Won’t Reveal Numbers Now: Narayan Rane

Senior BJP leader Narayan Rane said on Tuesday his party will try its best to form the government in Maharashtra, even as state has been placed under the President’s Rule, refusing to give further details on how the saffron party will reach the magic figure of 145 seats.

“Now, the governor has given a lot of time, we will wait, and there will be an affort to form the government,” Rane said as the Congress and the NCP said they had yet not taken any decision about supporting the Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra but will hold further discussions.

Rane also blamed the Shiv Sena for betraying the BJP. “Who has cheated the BJP? The Sena kept its legislators in closed doors in fear that the BJP might talk to them,” Rane said.

"The BJP will try to form the government. Devendra Fadnavis is putting in all efforts in this direction. We will try to reach the 145 figure, but I will not reveal the names yet," added Rane.

On Tuesday, Governor BK Koshyari sent a report to the Centre, recommending President's rule in the state which is facing a political impasse since the Assembly poll results of October 24; following which President's rule was imposed in the state.

At a joint press conference with Congress leaders, NCP president Sharad Pawar said the two parties will discuss and evolve a consensus on what should be the policies and programmes if the Shiv Sena was to be supported. The press conference was attended by Congress leadersc Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Veugopal, deputed by the party president Sonia Gandhi to hold further talks with the NCP on the issue.

"We (Congress and NCP leaders) discussed the nitty gritty of a (possible) common minimum programme to ensure the government functions smoothly," he said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also confirmed that he contacted the Congress and the NCP over the government formation for first time on Monday.