Will NCP, Congress Back Shiv Sena? Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi To Decide On Monday

Amid ongoing tussle between the BJP and Shiv Sena over Chief Ministership in Maharashtra, there are reports coming in that the Congress and the NCP are likely to take a call on backing Uddhav Thackeray’s party for government formation in the state. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi will meet in New Delhi on Monday (November 4). The leaders are likely to decided whether their parties would back Shiv Sena or not. It should be noted that on Friday Pawar had said that the public had given NCP the mandate to sit in the Opposition.

Speaking to reporters in Nashik, he also termed as "childish" the tussle between the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena over sharing of the chief minister's post. Asked about the possibility of the Shiv Sena forming government with the support of the NCP and the Congress, Pawar said there was no discussion in his party in this regard. While the Congress maintains that it will follow the wait and watch policy in Maharashtra, the Pawar-Gandhi meeting may change the couse of event in the state.

In the October 24 verdict, the BJP won 105 seats, while Shiv Sena won 56 seats. The simple majority mark in the house of 288 is 145. In case the Pawar-Gandhi meeting turns into an alliance, all three parties will have the magic figure to form the government. The math is simple -  Shiv Sena (56), NCP (54) and Congress (44) as alliance partners can easily cross the majority mark.

Earlier on Thursday, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut had met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence. Raut confirmed after the meeting that the politics in Maharashtra were discussed between the two leaders. "Met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at his residence today. I had come to wish him on the occasion of Diwali. We also discussed the politics in Maharashtra," the Shiv Sena MP said.  Sena has asked the BJP to follow the '50:50 power-sharing formula', claiming that it had been agreed to before the 2019 Lok Sabha election. However, Chief Minister Fadnavis has said that there was no agreement on the 50:50 formula.

While Sena is seeking the chief minister’s post, the BJP has said that it would not compromise on the top executive job in the state. The meeting comes hours after Raut described as rumours reports that his party has softened its stand on the issue of sharing power in Maharashtra with ruling alliance partner BJP.