More twists in Maharashtra tale: Governor rejects Sena claim, invites NCP

In another twist to the political drama on Monday, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari rejected Shiv Sena’s request to give it three days to furnish letters of support from potential allies — the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. 

The third-largest party, NCP, later claimed the Governor had called them to form the government.  After meeting the governor, state unit NCP President 

Jayant Patil said the party would discuss the issue with its ally, the Congress, and get back to the governor by or before 8.30 pm on Tuesday.

“According to the procedure, the governor has given us a letter being the third largest party in the state of Maharashtra and therefore, we have suggested to him that we will have to talk to our alliance partner. We have assured him we will get back to him as early as possible,” Patil said.

The Sena could not furnish the letters as the Congress top leadership remained non-committal in its support to a government led by Sena.  However, there were indications from the Congress by evening that they would go along with the NCP.

The state could be headed for central rule if the NCP, too, fails to furnish letters of support from Congress and Sena. 

The Congress on Monday held marathon discussions and a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, but remained indecisive on whether to support a Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra. The Opposition came primarily from the Congress party’s Kerala unit, which argued that it was likely to suffer politically in the southern state if the Congress were to join a government led by the Sena. Majority of the 44 Congress legislators supported joining such a government, sources said. Sources said top leaders of the party’s core group will meet at the residence of party chief Sonia Gandhi at 10 am on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

Earlier in the day, the Sena’s lone minister in the Narendra Modi-led Council of Ministers, Heavy Industries Minister Arvind Sawant, quit the Cabinet to formalise the severing of ties between allies Sena and BJP. The governor had given the Sena time till 7.30 pm to “express willingness and ability to form the government”.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray along with party leaders after meeting Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari in Mumbai

Even though Sena leaders Aaditya Thackeray, Eknath Shinde, and others met the governor before 7.30 pm, they did not have letters of support from the Congress and the NCP.

Before Koshyari called the NCP, Aaditya Thackeray told reporters outside Raj Bhavan that his party’s claim on formation of a government still stands, as the two parties have agreed “in-principle” to support the Sena-led government. He didn’t take names of the Congress and the NCP. “We sought time from the governor but he refused to grant it,” he said. During the course of the day, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also spoke over the phone with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while she spoke with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. 

After opting out of race for government formation, the BJP has adopted a ‘wait and watch’ policy in the state. Speaking to reporters late Monday after the meeting, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said: “We have decided to adopt a wait and watch policy on the current political situation.”