BJP denies tie- up talks between Shah, Uddhav

In Mumbai, Mr Uddhav Thackeray said he would consider any proposal for a stable govt

The BJP parliamentary board, which met Sunday evening in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took stock of the situation in Maharashtra. Earlier on Sunday Mr L. K. Advani, who was in Amritsar, said, “It would be better if they both come together and form the government.” In Mumbai, Mr Uddhav Thackeray said he would consider any proposal for a stable government. “If I take the proposal and they ( BJP) say no, then? Therefore it is better to wait... We will consider any proposal for a stable government,” said Mr Thackeray. After the parliamentary board meeting, BJP general secretary J. P. Nadda denied there were any talks between BJP president Amit Shah and Mr Thackeray. Speculation was rife that Mr Thackeray had called Mr Modi and Mr Shah to congratulate then and that the post- poll alliance issue was discussed. After the parliamentary board meeting, Union minister and senior leader Rajnath Singh said, “So far we have not taken any decision on the chief ministers of Maharashtra or Haryana.” While the party’s Maharashtra unit chief, Devendra Fadnavis, is said to be the front- runner for the top post in state, the names of Captain Abhimanyu, Ram Bilas Sharma and Manoharlal Khattar are doing the rounds for the top post in Haryana. Supporters of the late Gopinath Munde want his daughter Pankaja to be considered for the chief ministership of Maharashtra. The BJP parliamentary board was chaired by Mr Shah and attended, among others, by Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and M. Venkaiah Naidu. The parliamentary board passed a resolution thanking voters and party workers. The BJP would be sending observers to both states to oversee the process of its MLAs electing legislature party leaders. Earlier, addressing the media, Mr Shah said, “As per the norms of democracy, the largest party has the right to form government. BJP will be forming the government in Maharashtra.” To repeated questions, Mr Shah maintained that the BJP was not the one that had broken the alliance with the Shiv Sena. Taking a dig at the Sena, with which the alliance broke over seat- sharing, the BJP chief said, “The results have proved who was correct... We won more seats than we were being offered.” He added that the party’s victories in both states were “a kind of stamp of approval by the people on the Modi government’s work.