Congress-NCP to jointly decide on backing Sena rule: Chavan

Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said any decision regarding supporting a Shiv Sena- led government in Maharashtra will have to be taken jointly by his party and its ally NCP.

Talking to reporters here,the former Maharashtra Chief Minister saidunless the Congress and the NCP jointly agree on an alternative, there will be no forward movement on the issue.

No party has got a majority in the October 21 assembly polls and that is why the Congress feels the BJP shouldn't be in power, Chavan said.

"The state has suffered a lot in the last five years. Farmers are in crisis...the economic situation is not good," added the newly-elected MLA from Bhokar in Nanded district.

Asked about the possibility of his party supporting a Sena-led government, Chavan, a former MPCC president, said the Congress and the NCP will have to jointly take a decision on the issue.

The NCP has been repeatedly saying that the Sharad Pawar-led party and the Congress have received mandate to sit in the opposition.

Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly Vijay Waddetiwar of the Congress claimed 90 per cent MLAs of his party feel the BJP shouldn'tform the next government.

In the last month's election, the BJP won 105 seats followed by the Sena 56, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44. In the 288-member House, the majority mark is 145.

The BJP and Shiv Sena are locked in a bitter tussle over sharing of the chief minister's post and ministerial portfolios in new government.