With the Shiv Sena looking to take the helms of Maharashtra with the support of the Congress and NCP, party MP Sanjay Raut hit out at ally BJP saying that it is their “arrogance that they are refusing to form the government in the state.
“It is an insult to the people of Maharashtra. They are willing to sit in the opposition, but they are reluctant to follow the 50-50 formula, for which they agreed before polls,” a vocal Raut said.
“When they are not ready to talk to us, I don’t think there is any relationship left between us now. There is no question of the relationship with the BJP when they themselves have not followed what they had agreed upon,” he added.
Sanjay Raut also said that Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant had resigned from the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet on the directions of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Regarding the Governor’s invitation to form the government in Maharashtra, the party MP said that they should have been given more time. He further termed it a “strategy” of the BJP to impose President’s rule in the state.
“It would have been easy if the Governor had given us more time.BJP was given 72 hrs, we have been given lesser time. It’s a strategy of BJP to impose President’s rule in the state,” he said.
Raut further claimed a “huge conspiracy” by the BJP against the Sena.
Talking to reporters, Raut, in a bid to gain support from the opposition, said Shiv Sena will work towards a Common Minimum Programme with the NCP and the Congress.
“Sharad Pawar and Congress want that we should form the government which should run on a common minimum programme (CMP). There is a need for it today. We are working towards it,” Raut said.
Earlier in the day, the Rajya Sabha MP had put out a cryptic tweet in Hindi saying “destination might get hurt if means is given more importance”.
रास्ते की परवाह करूँगा तो मंजिल बुरा मान जाएगी………!
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) November 11, 2019
After the BJP said it did not have required numbers to stake claim of the government, state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday night invited the Shiv Sena, which is the second-largest party, to form the government in the state.
The Sena, which has 56 MLAs in the 288-member House after the BJP (105), has time till 7:30 pm today to stake the claim. While Shiv Sena has been making efforts to reach out to the NCP and the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led party said the Sena will have to walk out of the NDA first.
The Shiv Sena would have to break away from the BJP-led NDA before the NCP can think of lending support to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party for government formation, the opposition party had said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena is set to meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari this afternoon and hand over a letter of support and seek more time to prove majority. A high-level meeting of the party will take place at Sena Bhavan later today.
Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena leader of Legislative Party, will lead the delegation to the Maharashtra Governor.
In view of the developing situation, Raut has arrived at Uddhav Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai.
According to reports, Thackeray had on Sunday met Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi on the Maharashtra impasse.
The Sena and the BJP have been locked in a tussle since the Uddhav Thackeray-led party raised demand for the chief minister’s post on a rotational basis and implementation of a “50:50 power-sharing” formula, which entails equal allocation of ministerial portfolios. The BJP has rejected both the demands.