As the BJP -Shiv Sena tussle over power continues in Maharashtra, NCP took a dig at the situation by sharing a cartoon depicting the government formation situation in the state.

The cartoon shared by NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto on Twitter shows Shiv Sena’s symbol ‘bow and arrow’ hanging overhead BJP’s party symbol, the lotus.

The tweet sharing the cartoon was captioned (in Marathi) “There is a proverb…Hanging over your head.”

एक म्हण आहे, डोक्यावर टांगती…

My Artwork#ElectionResults2019 #MaharashtraAssemblyElections #MaharashtraElections2019 #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/ikuyRqdTnl

— Clyde Crasto (@Clyde_Crasto) October 29, 2019

The NCP- Congress though haven’t shown a direct interest in the Sena-BJP’s tug-of-war so far but this could be a hint to the Sena after Sanjay Raut’s statement yesterday.

Sanjay Raut, the Sena leader yesterday said, “Uddhav Thackeray has said that we have other options too but we don’t want to do the sin of accepting that alternative. Shiv Sena has always done politics of truth, hinting that Shiv Sena might have to look for other options if BJP won’t accept their demand of equal partners in power-sharing.

In the Maharashtra Assembly Elections concluded on October 24 in which the BJP won 105 seats and the Sena got 56 seats. The two parties are engaged in a tug-of-war over the government formation, four days after the assembly results were announced on October 24, as the BJP did not repeat its 2014’s performance and its seats were less than expected, so Sena is keeping up the pressure to be treated an equal partner.

While Fadnavis has confidently reiterated that the BJP-Sena ‘Maha-Yutia’ (grand alliance) will return to power, the ally Sena has been playing hardball demanding the implementation of the 50-50 formula.

Fadnavis on Tuesday said the BJP president Amit Shah has not given any confirmation about giving the Chief Minister’s post to Shiv Sena. Though he said that BJP will lead a stable government with Shiv Sena for the next five years.

Earlier, the Shiv Sena on Saturday demanded a written assurance from BJP over the 50-50 seat-sharing formula in Maharashtra and had been adamant on it since then.

A meeting of 56 newly-elected MLAs of the party was held at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence ‘Matoshree’, where it was decided that a letter on BJP letterhead and signed by senior leadership must be produced to confirm the 50-50 alliance deal agreed between Thackeray and Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.

The party has also demanded that both the allies should get a chance to run the government for 2.5 years each so that Shiv Sena can also have a chief minister.

“In our meeting, it was decided that like Amit Shah ji had promised 50-50 formula before Lok Sabha polls, similarly both allies should get chance to run the government for 2.5 years each so that Shiv Sena should also have a CM. Uddhav ji should get this assurance in writing from BJP,” Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.

Meanwhile, posters calling Aaditya Thackeray the “future Chief Minister” have surfaced in parts of Mumbai after the poll results, indicating that Sena workers want him to take the top job despite his father ruling the move-out.

The BJP-Sena combine bagged around 160 seats in Maharashtra, way below their expectation of crossing the 200-mark while NCP -Congress alliance bounced back and resurgent NCP won 54, while Congress won 44 seats.