Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar met Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening to discuss the political situation in Maharashtra. Pawar reached Delhi on Monday morning for the Winter Session of Parliament.
Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Pawar said: “BJP-Shiv Sena fought together [in Maharashtra Assembly elections], we and the Congress fought together. They have to choose their path and we will do our politics.”
When reporters asked him about the possibility of the Shiv Sena forming a government in Maharashtra with the NCP, Pawar asked: “Achcha [Really]?”
Earlier, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told ANI: “Once it is decided in the meeting today on how to go ahead, definitely everything will speed up and there will be an alternate government in Maharashtra.”
Pawar had said on Saturday that the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress will together form a coalition government and promised that it will complete the full term.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena fought the October Assembly elections in alliance but couldn’t form the government despite winning the most seats. They broke up as the BJP refused to agree to the Sena’s demand for an equal number of Cabinet portfolios, and the chief minister’s post for two-and-a-half years. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party claimed that the BJP had agreed to the power-sharing deal in the run-up to the General Elections in April and May.
The Assembly election results were announced on October 24. The Bharatiya Janata Party had emerged as the single-largest party with 105 seats in the 288-member Assembly. The Shiv Sena, with 56 seats, came second, while the NCP and the Congress won 54 and 44 constituencies. President’s Rule was imposed on the state last week. The Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena are currently in discussions to form government.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena, which was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance until the fallout, refused to attend an all-party meeting on Sunday ahead of the Winter Session of the Parliament. Raut on Saturday said that the Shiv Sena’s exit from the alliance was a mere formality now.
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