Maha: BJP has support of 119 MLAs, will form govt soon: Patil

The BJP will form a government in Maharashtra soon, the party's state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said on Friday, claiming that it can count on support of 119 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly.

Patil's statement came even as its estranged ally Shiv Sena and rivals Congress and NCP appeared to be inching closer towards finalising an alliance to form government.

Patil claimed that the BJP, which won 105 seats in the October 21 elections, has the support of some Independents, which takes its tally to 119.

Addressing a press conference, he said, "BJP is the single largest party, and with the support of Independents our tally reaches 119. With this tally, BJP will form the government.

"We are keeping a close watch on every political development in the state," he added.

The BJP-Sena alliance, which won 161 seats, fell apart over the Sena's demand of sharing of chief minister's post.

Speaking about the BJP's performance in the Assembly elections, Patil said it secured 1.42 crore votes, and was in "number one" position, with the NCP second with 92 lakh votes and the Shiv Sena following with 90 lakh votes.

Except the BJP, no party had been able to win more than 100 seats in Maharashtra since 1990, and his party had done it on a trot in 2014 and 2019, Patil pointed out.

"Our performance on all fronts is number one, as we won 105 seats after contesting 164 seats. On 52 seats, we came second," he added.

The BJP also boasts of highest number of women MLAs (12) along with seven Scheduled Caste and nine Scheduled Tribe legislators, he said.

Speaking about the crop loss in the state due to unseasonal rains, he said, "We have discussed the issue in our meeting and instructed all our MLAs to help farmers in their constituencies to get government aid."