Those responsible for forming government in Maharashtra ran away, says Sanjay Raut

Amid political turmoil in Maharashtra, Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday slammed the BJP for 'running away from responsibility' while reiterating that his party will soon form a government in the state.

"The responsibility to form a government in Maharashtra was not ours. The ones who had that responsibility ran away. However, I am confident that soon we will have a government in place in the state," Raut told reporters after meeting NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Raut, however, said that the primary agenda of his meeting with NCP chief was to talk about the farmers' issues.

"The farmers in the state are suffering after untimely rains. I met Pawar to discuss their issues. He had recently visited some of the affected areas. He has also been an Agriculture Minister. So, I requested him to meet and apprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the issue," he said.

"We also discussed how we can quickly form a government in the state," Raut added.

Following the inability of BJP, the single largest party, to form the government, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari last week invited the second and third largest parties, namely- Shiv Sena and NCP to form government in the state.

However, as they were not able to put together a viable alternative in the time given to them, the state came under President's Rule.

While the BJP emerged as the single-largest party in Maharashtra assembly polls with 105 seats, the NCP and Congress have 54 and 44 MLAs, respectively, in the state Assembly.