Even though Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the BJP to show "willingness" to form the government, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could spring up a surprise -- at least that's what its Mumbai unit chief Nawab Malik suggested on Saturday.
Malik said that if Shiv Sena votes against BJP in the house, "we will consider supporting an alternate government led by Shiv Sena". He added the NCP will vote against the BJP government on the floor of the House.
"The Governor has started the process by inviting BJP to form the government. This could have been started earlier also. He should take the precaution since the BJP doesn't have the number to form a stable government. The Governor should take care that horse-trading is not started by the BJP," Malik told ANI.
Malik said the NCP, which has 54 MLAs, has called a meeting of its legislators on November 12 to discuss the political situation.
One must remember that NCP chief Sharad Pawar has time and again ruled out the possibility of joining hands with the Sena.
"I would like to clarify that no decision has been taken regarding backing Shiv Sena for the Chief Minister's post and going with them... We have our own friends in Maharashtra and we will walk with them and support them only... We are firm on our decisions. NCP, Congress and other allies will decide together on the future course of action and we will not go with Shiv Sena," Pawar had said on October 24.
On Saturday, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asked caretaker Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to "indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government in Maharashtra".
The BJP has won 105 seats while the Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. Shiv Sena has insisted that the two parties had a '50-50' power-sharing agreement before the elections.
Fadnavis has said that the Shiv Sena was not promised the chief ministerial post for two-and-a-half years when the alliance was sealed before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
On Friday, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had slammed the BJP for trying "to prove him a liar", saying that it had agreed to share the chief minister's post in Maharashtra during his talks with Amit Shah.
He would fulfill the promise made to his father, late Sena founder Bal Thackeray, to install a Shiv Sena chief minister in the state, and does not need Devendra Fadnavis or Shah for this, Uddhav Thackeray said.
Hitting out at the saffron ally, Thackeray said: "We do not need Amit Shah's blessings to form the government in Maharashtra."
(With inputs from ANI)
