Sena moves SC over Governor's refusal to extend time given to form govt

New Delhi, Nov 12: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court over less time being given to them by the Maharashtra Governor to form the government as compared to the BJP. Sena was asked to complete all formalities within 24 hours, while the BJP was given 48 hours.

Shiv Sena had asked the Governor to extend the time given to them which the Governor rejected. The petition was filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes and settled by Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal would be appearing for Shiv Sena, reports said.

Shiv Sena has contended that the Governor is duty-bound to allow reasonable time to political parties to conclude their negotiations on government formation and he/ she should not act as an agent/ mouthpiece of the Central government.

Sena, in its petition, has assailed the decision of the Governor who had rejected Sena's request for three additional days to garner letters of support from NCP and Congress parties.

The uncertainty over the government formation continued as the Congress is yet to make its stand on supporting Shiv Sena clear. Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal will meet NCP chief and veteran politician Sharad Pawar.

As reports emerged that the Governor has recommended the President's Rule, Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted: "How can the honourable governor recommend President rule till the time given to NCP doesn't lapse?"

Sena then suffered a setback in its efforts to cobble up a non-BJP government in Maharashtra with the Congress at the last moment announcing its decision to hold more talks with ally NCP on supporting the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

"Today NCP meeting was held. All 54 MLAs were present. It has been decided that looking at the uncertainty in the state, we'll empower Sharad Pawar ji to take a decision on alternative govt.A committee will be formed for the same which will be led by Sharad Pawar," NCP's Nawab Malik said.

On Monday, Shiv Sena severed ties with the BJP and Arvind Sawant resigned from the PM Modi's Cabinet.

" The party believes that it is not possible to form an alternative govt without the coming together of the three parties (Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena). If the three don't come together, there cannot be a stable govt in Maharashtra," Malik said.

Congress is wary of supporting the Shiv Sena as ideologically, both parties are poles apart.