Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has called upon the Shiv Sena--the second-largest party in the state-- to form the government after the BJP on Sunday, announced that it does not have the numbers to form a stable government in the state.
"The Sena will have to inform the governor about its stand by Monday (November 11) evening 7.30 pm," a Raj Bhavan official said.
After the BJP backed down from trying to form the government in the state, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the party would install its chief minister at any cost.
"Maharashtra will have Sena's chief minister at any cost. Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday informed the party MLAs that Sena will have its chief minister," Raut told reporters.
The BJP on Sunday announced that it would not form government in Maharashtra in view of the ally Shiv Sena's stand to not join them in the efforts.
BJP's state unit chief, Chandrakant Patil said: "We do not have the numbers to form the government."
The BJP said Shiv Sena is free to tie up with NCP and Congress to form the government in the state.
"Good luck to the Shiv Sena if it wants to form government in Maharashtra with the support of the Congress and NCP," Patil said.
He said the Shiv Sena has disrespected the mandate given by the people of Maharashtra.
In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP and the Sena each has 105 and 56 MLAs, respectively.
Opposition Congress and NCP won 44 and 54 seats, respectively in recent assembly polls. Halfway mark is 145.
With the result, the Shiv Sena will have to look for alternatives if they are to form the government. While The Congress's Sanjay Nirupam has said that alliance with the Shiv Sena will turn out to be "fatal" for the Congress Party, the NCP has shown a willingness to support them provided they completely break away from the NDA.
"We have called a meeting of our MLAs on Nov 12. If Shiv Sena wants our support, they will have to declare that they have no relation with BJP," said NCP leader Nawab Malik, ANI quoted them as saying.
"They should pull out from National Democratic Alliance (NDA). All their ministers will have to resign from Union Cabinet," he added.
The NCP, who fought the assembly elections in an alliance with the Congress said, "Till now, we haven't received any proposal from Shiv Sena. The final decision will be taken by Congress and the NCP together as declared by (Sharad) Pawar Sahab."
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Sunday said that if the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will take support from the Shiv Sena to form the government in the state, then it will be fatal for his party.
"Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra is only an imagination. If we want to convert that imagination into a reality, it won't be possible without Shiv Sena's support. If we take Shiv Sena's support, it will be fatal for the Congress," Nirupam told ANI.
Earlier today, Nirupam tweeted, "In the current political arithmetic in Maharashtra, it's just impossible for Congress-NCP to form any government. For that, we need Shiv Sena. And we must not think of sharing power with Shiv Sena under any circumstances. That will be a disastrous move for the party."
(inputs from agencies)
