Maha: Cong, NCP rule out backing Sena to keep BJP out of power

MUMBAI: Chances of another BJP-SHIV Sena government in Maharashtra brightened on Friday as opposition Congress and NCP ruled out aligning with the Shiv Sena to keep the BJP out of power.

In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP has won 105 seats, while ally Sena bagged 56. The NCP bagged 54 seats, and the Congress emerged victorious in 44 seats.

Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat ruled out joining hands with the Shiv Sena to keep BJP out of power, saying the mandate for his party was to be a responsible opposition.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar also ruled out any alliance with the Sena. He said, “We will not go with Shiv Sena. NCP- Congress and other allies will decide together the future course of action.”

“People have asked us to sit in the opposition. The thought of trying to get into power doesn’t even cross our minds,” he said.

With the BJP falling short of the halfway mark on its own, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray sought to strike a hard bargain, saying it was time to implement the “fifty-fifty” formula for power-sharing, which he said was decided with BJP president Amit Shah earlier.

Thackeray will be meeting the newly-elected MLAS of his party in Mumbai on Saturday and may discuss the issue of formation of the next government in the meeting, Sena sources said.

The Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Friday had a headline on its front page, proclaiming that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has the “keys to power” in Maharashtra.

An editorial in the newspaper also took a dig at the BJP, saying there was no “maha janadesh” and the outcome was, in fact, a rap on the knuckles for those high on “arrogance of power”.