New Delhi: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday evening said the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and his party will work out a formula for the formation of government in Maharashtra that has been facing political uncertainty for nearly three weeks now.
Thackeray's comments came hours after President's Rule was imposed in the state.
Attacking the BJP over its claim that the Sena had been in touch with the Congress-NCP since the October 24 poll results were announced, Thackeray said he had allied with the chief NDA constituent in its "dark times".
“I officially spoke to the Congress-NCP only yesterday (November 11), seeking support for government formation. We will work out a formula for the same,” he said after meeting the Sena's MLA-elects at a suburban resort.
Thackeray, flanked by his son Aaditya, said the Sena needs clarity on the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), just like the Congress and the NCP if a government is to be formed with their support.
Thackeray took a dig at Governor BS Koshyari over the denial of more time to drum up support for government formation in the state — the party had failed to produce the required letters of support from the NCP and the Congress when it met Koshyari on Monday night to stake a claim to form the government.
"The Maharashtra Governor had given us a letter (asking the Sena to show willingness to form government) even before the deadline allotted to the BJP got over. We then asked the Governor for additional time, which he denied. Now it seems the Governor has given us ample time of six months to decide on government formation," said a sarcastic Thackeray. “We had asked for 48 hours, but the Governor gave us six months."
Criticising the BJP, Thackeray said, “The fact that I reached out to the Congress-NCP only yesterday proves the BJP's allegation, that I was in touch with them since day of the election results, wrong.”
Reaffirming the Sena's commitment to Hindutva, Thackeray pointed out that parties with different ideologies have earlier forged alliance with the BJP.
“I have sought information on how the BJP forged alliances with non-ideological partners like Mehbooba Mufti (of the Peoples Democratic Party), Nitish Kumar (of the Janata Dal United), Chandrababu Naidu (of the Telugu Desam Party) and Ramvilas Paswan (of the Lok Janshakti Party). “It will be helpful for me to understand on how to go ahead with the Congress and NCP.”
Asked whether he has officially broken the alliance with the BJP, Thackeray said, "If it is broken, it is by them, not me. They lied and tried to prove me a liar."
Thackeray reiterated that sharing the chief minister's post had been decided before the Assembly polls, but the BJP did not honour the commitment. "It is not true Hindutva when you are in favour of Ram temple, but break promises," he said.
Thackeray addressed the press conference shortly after a similar briefing by leaders of the Congress and NCP in south Mumbai, where they said they were yet to take a decision about supporting the Sena but will hold further discussions. NCP president Sharad Pawar said the two parties will discuss and evolve a consensus on what should be the policies and programs if the Sena was to be supported.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane said he would do "whatever" to ensure his party forms a government in the state.
Rane, a Rajya Sabha MP, was a former Shiv Sena CM who then quit the saffron party to join the Congress before floating his own outfit and then joining the BJP. "I will do whatever it takes to form a new BJP government, but I will not discuss (modalities) how," he said.
The Sena, with 56 seats, is the second largest party after the BJP (105). If it comes together with the NCP (54) and the Congress (44), the three parties can easily reach the majority mark of 145 in the 288-member house.
The state plunged into political uncertainty following the BJP-Sena tussle over power-sharing though their alliance got a comfortable majority in the October 21 Assembly polls.
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment