The impasse over government formation in Maharashtra continued on Sunday. BJP and Shiv Sena, who fought the election together, have been at loggerheads over sharing of power including the post of chief minister. The BJP has rejected the Sena's demand for sharing the chief minister's post for 2.5 years each. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who has been at the centre of this tussle, fired new salvo at BJP on Tuesday. He also claimed that the swearing-in of new government will take place soon and the CM will come from Shiv Sena only. Raut has been at the forefront of vociferously articulating the Sena's demand for equal distribution of power and sharing the chief minister's post.
Earlier, Raut tweeted a poem from Dushyant Kumar in a veiled dig at BJP. The lines read, "Sirf hungama khada karna mera maqsad nahi hai, meri koshish hai ki surat badalani chahiye. Mere seene mein nahi to to tere seene mein sahi, ho kahin bhi aag lekin aag jalni chahiye. (I don't want to just cause chaos, my attempt is to change the scenario. Whether in my heart or yours, a fire should burn surely)."
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) November 5, 2019
Raut said politics of Maharashtra was changing and his party would win in its fight for justice.
"The decision on Maharashtra will be taken in Maharashtra, the chief minister will be from the Shiv Sena," Raut told reporters on Tuesday in what could be read as a dig at CM Devendra Fadnavis meeting Amit Shah in Delhi.
Amid reports of the Shiv Sena making friendly overtures to the NCP, Raut said Sharad Pawar will not be the next chief minister of the state.
"The politics of Maharashtra is changing...in our fight for justice, we will win."
On Monday, Raut met the governor and said Shiv Sena is not creating any hurdles in formation of a government in Maharashtra. The Rajya Sabha MP, accompanied by party colleague and Maharashtra minister Ramdas Kadam, met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in the evening at the Raj Bhavan.
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"We had a discussion with Governor Koshyari on a wide range of issues, including political. We learned a lot about him, especially his deep understanding of the state's political developments,"
Raut told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai. "We informed the governor that the Shiv Sena is not responsible for the current political situation in the state over formation of new government," he told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai.
Raut, who is also executive editor of Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', said his party is not creating any hurdles in formation of the new government in Maharashtra, where assembly election results were announced on October 24.
The term of the existing Maharashtra legislative assembly expires on November 9. In the October 21 polls to the 288-member assembly, the BJP won 105 seats followed by the Shiv Sena 56, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44. The majority mark in the house is 145.