No question of going with Shiv Sena, philosophy is entirely different: Sushilkumar Shinde

Former Union Minister and Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Shive Sena, saying that the philosophy of two parties was entirely different and hence there was no question of their coming together for any kind of arrangement.

"The public have asked us to sit in the opposition so that we may expose the misdeeds of the government. Why we will support? Our philosophy is different. NCP and Congress are secular parties. The Congress has performed very good in Maharashtra. The poor have reposed their confidence in the Congress," Shinde told media persons.

Newly-elected Congress MLAs and party leaders met here to discuss among other things the result of the recently held Assembly polls in the state.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the meeting was only a 'thanksgiving' to the leaders, who worked for the party in the recently concluded Assembly polls and nothing was discussed regarding the formation of the government in State.

In reply to question with regard to extending support to any other party in the state, he said: "These are the policy decisions. Party president Sonia Gandhi and the AICC will decide on it. We have not discussed it here."

While former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said the farmers in the state are in distress. "BJP and Shiv Sena should decide on the government formation at the earliest so that farmers are relieved," said Chavan.

"The question of supporting BJP doesn't arise. The mandate is not in favour of the BJP as the people were not happy with the rule of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis," he said.

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won an absolute majority in the Maharashtra assembly polls with the former emerging as the single largest party in the state with 105 seats. Shiv Sena, on the other hand, bagged 56 seats in the elections.

The NCP also increased its numbers as compared to the 2014 elections with 54 seats while the Congress slipped to the fourth position winning 44 seats.