Maha CM, Sena leader meet Guv separately

Suspense over govt-formation in Maha remains

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena on Monday reiterated its demand for an equal share of power in Maharashtra and asked the BJP to “speak the truth on the 50:50 powersharing formula” agreed between Amit Shah and Uddhav Thackeray.

The demand by Sena MP Sanjay Raut came shortly after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote met state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, amid the ongoing tussle between the ruling alliance partners over forming the next state government.

A Raj Bhawan official said the meetings were “courtesy calls” by the two leaders, who met Koshyari separately. Raut also told a TV channel that there was “nothing political” in Raote’s meeting with the governor.

Amid Shiv Sena’s demand for the post of the chief minister, the BJP on Monday said that Maharashtra would soon get a Bjp-led government and asserted that the assembly election results in the state are an endorsement of public support for its dispensation.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao noted that the BJP has emerged as the single largest party “by a wide margin” with its tally of seats being more than the combined total of the opposition alliance of the Congress and NCP.

The Shiv Sena borrowed a famous dialogue from the iconic Bollywood film, “Sholay”, to attack the Bjp-led government over economic slowdown during the ongoing festival season. “Itna sannata kyun hai bhai (why is there so much silence),” the party wrote in an editorial in its mouthpiece “Saamana”.

The Sena blamed the Centre’s bigticket economic decisions-demonetisation and the implementation of goods and services tax- for the slowdown.

On Saturday, the Sena demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing “equal formula for sharing of power” before holding talks on staking the claim to form the next alliance government in the state.

In the just-concluded state polls to 288-member Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally.

The Sena’s tally also came down to 56 seats from 63 in 2014. A resurgent NCP won 54, and the Congress bagged 44 seats.