Maharashtra govt formation: Sena's new demands not acceptable, says Amit Shah

Mumbai, Nov 13: Amid political crisis in Maharashtra, BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday said his party will not accept the new demands put forth by Shiv Sena.

Rejecting Shiv Sena claim on CM post, Amit Shah in an exclusive interview to ANI said "Before the elections, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I had said many times in public that Devendra Fadnavis will be the Chief Minister if the alliance wins. Nobody objected back then. Now they have come up with new demands that are not acceptable to us."

On imposition of President's Rule in Maharashtra, Shah said, "Before this, in no state was so much time given... 18 days were given. Governor invited parties only after assembly tenure ended. Neither Shiv Sena nor Congress-NCP staked claim and neither we. Even if today any party has numbers it can approach the Governor."

The Shiv Sena refusing to budge on its 50: 50 demand including the CM post snapped ties with its ally. While Fadnavis stated no such agreement had been in place before the elections.

Maharashtra in political turmoil since the results of the Assembly elections were announced on October 24 -- the BJP won 105 seats and its ally won 56. Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 54 and the Congress 48 in the 288-member House. The BJP was unable to touch the halfway-mark on its own.

President's rule was imposed in the state on Tuesday after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari reported that the formation of a stable government was impossible in the current situation despite all his efforts.