Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to submit his resignation to the Governor on Friday as his term ends on Saturday.
Reliable sources said the BJP will not stake claim to form the government unless it has support of more than 145 MLAs, which is not possible if the Shiv Sena does not declare its support to the BJP-led government.
“Even if the governor invites the BJP to form the government, we will not accept it, if we are not sure about the clear majority,” the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena moved its 56 legislators to a hotel in Bandra, close to party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence, to prevent poaching. However, senior party leader Sanjay Raut refuted the possibility of poaching.
Mr Thackeray, earlier in a meeting held at his residence, clarified that the talks would be held only if the BJP was ready to part with the chief minister’s post. The Sena has been insisting on the top post for the first 2.5 years of the government.
“If the BJP is not ready to keep its promise, there is no point in holding a discussion. We do not want to break the alliance; it is the BJP who has to now decide,” he told his MLAs.
The Sena MLAs passed a resolution authorising Mr Thackeray to take a ‘final decision’ on government formation in the state. Shiv Sena’s legislative party leader Eknath Shinde said that the party chief Uddhav Thackeray will announce “appropriate decision” on Friday.
Sources from Sena confirmed that the party had received a positive response from the Congress and NCP and was confident of getting the required numbers to form its government. “We also have options and we will prove the numbers on the floor of the house,” said Mr Raut.
A BJP delegation, which met governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, on Thursday did not stake claim to form the next government.
Addressing a press conference outside the Raj Bhavan, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil said that the Mahayuti (grand alliance), had the mandate to form a new government. “But as the formation of the new government has been delayed, we met the governor to discuss the legal options. Besides, we have appraised him with the current political situation, Mr Patil said.
“We have discussed the available legal options with the governor. The BJP high command will decide the future political strategy,” Mr Patil added.
The term of the current Vidhan Sabha will end on November 8 (Friday). If no party stakes claim to form the government by Friday evening, the governor may invite the single-largest party to form the government and prove its majority within a stipulated period. If that party fails, the second-largest party may get the chance to form the government. If all the attempts at government formation fail, a caretaker government may be appointed, which will work until the formation of a new government. But it will not be authorised to take any policy decision. The swearing-in of the newly-elected MLAs will be held during the tenure of the caretaker government.
