Maharashtra Govt formation: Governor invites BJP to form government

Mumbai, Nov 09: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday invited the BJP to form the government in the state where there has been a political deadlock since October 24, when assembly election results were announced.

There were apprehensions that if the deadlock continues, Maharashtra could be put under a short spell of President's rule

Devendra Fadnavis is the legislature party leader of the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra after the Assembly Election. The tenure of the 13th Assembly in Maharashtra set to end on Saturday midnight.

The Maharashtra Governor has asked outgoing chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government in Maharashtra, a communication from the Governor's office stated.

There was no headway in government formation after Maharashtra election resutls were declared on Oct. 24. The BJP won 105 seats in the polls while ally Shiv Sena won 56. The NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats, respectively. The term of the existing 288-seat state assembly expires on Nov. 9.

BJP and Shiv Sena went to elections as allies, but after results were announced, the Uddav Thackeray-led party demanded '50-50' sharing of CM's post. The BJP is not willing to give up CM post. With Shiv Sena adamant on CM post for 2.5 years, and the BJP unrelenting, there is currently a deadlock.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that both parties had agreed for '50-50 sharing' before May Lok Sabha elections. Shiv Sena remained adamant that the CM's post should be shared for 2.5 years each by both parties, but the BJP remained mum on it initially.

Later, Devendra Fadnavis said that during the talks held before Lok Sabha polls, Sena mentioned about '50-50', but there was no consensus on it as far as he knows.

Shiv Sena chief fumed at this and said Devendra Fadnavis is not telling the truth. He said that by denying that '50-50' sharing was not agreed upon between the two parties, Fadnavis is calling the 'son of Balasaheb Thackeray a liar'.

How it stands as of now in Maharashtra: