Uddhav Thackeray Speaks To Sharad Pawar Over Phone, Discusses Government Formation: Reports

Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar over the phone on Thursday night and discussed things about government formation in Maharashtra, said reports. According to a report, the conversation took place when party MP Sanjay Raut was at Pawar’s residence. The development comes at a time when both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena have locked horns over 50:50 formula for Chief Minister’s post. 

Meanwhile, Finance Minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said Maharashtra may head for President's rule if the new government in the state is not in place by November 7. The tenure of the existing Legislative Assembly ends on November 8.

Mungantiwar said the delay in talks between BJP and Sena was due to the Diwali festival, adding parleys will start in a day or two.

The Shiv Sena is adamant on ‘50:50 formula’ and said that Maharashtra will have chief minister from the Shiv Sena.

Talking to reporters, Raut said there have been no talks yet between the BJP and Sena on government formation. If the Sena decides, it can get the required numbers to form a stable government in Maharashtra, he said.

People have given mandate to form government on the basis of "50:50 formula" that was reached in front of the people of Maharashtra, Raut said.

In the just-held state polls, the BJP won 105 seats, while the Sena got 56 in the 288-member Assembly. The NCP got 54 and the Congress 44 seats.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is demanding the CM's post for 2.5 years and 50:50 division of portfolios.

Both these demands have been rejected by the BJP which has insisted that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will continue to hold the post for the next five years.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece "Saamana", the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said farmers who have suffered crop loss should be provided adequate compensation.

"The farmers in the state are awaiting immediate assistance and not a new government," the editorial said. The NCP will try to give an alternative if the BJP and the Shiv Sena fail to form government in Maharashtra, the opposition party's chief spokesperson, Nawab Malik, said on Friday.

Malik's comment came even as senior party leader Ajit Pawar has maintained the NCP will sit in the opposition along with the Congress.

Ajit Pawar said late night on Thursday that the people of the state have asked his party to sit in the opposition, as reflected in the election results, and it will do so.