Form government in Maharashtra if you have numbers: Sanjay Raut challenges BJP

Amid the uncertainty over the government formation in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday challenged the BJP to go ahead and form the government alone if it has the numbers.

"If you (BJP) have the numbers then they should form the government. If you don't have the numbers then admit it. The (Indian) Constitution is for the people of this country, it is not their (BJP's) personal property. We know the constitution well. We will elect the chief minister of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra constitutionally," he asserted.

Reiterating Shiv Sena's position, Raut said that the next Mahrashtra chief minister will be from his party.

"People gave the mandate for the alliance, not alone for the BJP... There's no change in Sena's stand on government formation," he said.

"We have the numbers to make our own chief minister, we don't need to show that here, we will show that on the floor of the house. We have alternatives, we don't speak without options and alternatives," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters here.

Earlier in the day, a delegation led by state BJP President, Chandrakant Patil met with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and discussed the political situation of the state.

Commenting on the meeting, Raut said: "I have heard press conference of Chandrakant Patil. They have been saying that the mandate is for 'Mayayuti'. Then why don't you stake claim to form the government? They are saying that there would be Chief Minster from BJP. If Mayayti got the mandate, then people also have voted for the things which were discussed between BJP and Shiv Sena."

Patil had reiterated that people of Maharashtra have given the mandate to 'Mahayuti' (alliance).

"There is a delay in government formation. Today, we met the Governor to discuss the legal options and political situation in the state," he said.

The BJP and Shiv Sena, who are partners in the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, had fought the assembly polls together. While the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the recently held elections, it is yet to stake a claim for government formation.

The BJP won 105 seats while Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

Even after getting the required numbers to form the government, there has been a delay in cobbling up a coalition as Shiv Sena has insisted that the two parties had a '50-50' power-sharing agreement before the elections.

On the other hand, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that 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.