Congress keeps watch on Shiv Sena’s moves in Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: As the deadlock between the BJP and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra continued, the Congress on Tuesday said it could support Uddhav Thackeray’s party for government formation.

“We can think of supporting the Shiv Sena but Uddhav Thackeray has to decide first on the issue ... whether he wants to break away from the BJP or not,” party leader Hussain Dalwai told reporters.

Having come fourth with 44 seats in the recently-concluded Assembly election, the party is not in a position to move forward but waiting for the right signals from the Sena.

In the latest developments, the Sena cancelled the meet with the BJP on government formation. It has maintained that it wants a writen assurance from the BJP on a rotational Chief Minister.

The Congress is questioning differences between friends who are now targeting each other. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has also reiterated that there is no proposal from the Sena yet, while asking the BJP and the Sena to make the deal between them public.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant also told IANS that “there is no proposal from the Shiv Sena yet”. “If they approach us, we will talk to our high command in Delhi before taking any decision.”

The Congress high command is, however, cautious on the ongoing batle between the two parties, with leaders in Delhi saying that the Sena may not take the extreme step of dumping the BJP. A senior leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that there was “a backchannel deliberation” with the Shiv Sena, but it has not “kicked off”.

Ashivsena-nationalistcongressparty-congress combine is a scenario being floated by some Congress leaders in Mumbai, but the party is wary about any such combinations. The Congress will only move ahead when Uddhav Thackeray leaves the BJP officially, a leader said.

With the Congress-ncp combine ruling the state for 15 years before being swept out of power in 2014, the Congress strategy will also depend on the moves of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, whose party is the senior partner in the state in terms of seats.