Slamming the BJP for the delay in the formation of a Government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena on Thursday charged that its senior ally was “pushing” the State towards the President’s rule.
Talking to mediapersons here, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said: “If the state is heading towards the President’s rule, the fault lies with the BJP and not the Shiv Sena”.
“The BJP is the single largest party. If it is so confident of forming the Government, why it can’t stake claim to form the government and submit its list of 145 MLAs to the Governor? If it is not in a position to do, the BJP should announce its failure to form a Govenment and sit in the Opposition,” Raut said.
“The BJP is letting the situation in the state to drift, by not initiating any steps to form the Government. In fact, it is deliberately pushing the state to President’s Rule. What the BJP is doing is an insult to the people of Maharashtra. It should realise that times have changed. Once you (BJP) are out of power, your politics of ‘Saam, Daam, Dand and Bhed’ will not work,” Raut said.
Replying to a question, Raut expressed confidence that the Sena which, according to him enjoys the support of 175 MLAs in the 288-member State Assembly, would form the next Government in the State. “We do not believe speaking about the alternatives. We shall prove our majority on the floor of the Assembly,” he said.
Raut said the question of the Sena receiving any fresh proposal to the BJP or vice versa did not arise. “We have not received any proposal from the Shiv Sena. Nor have we sent any proposal to the BJP. All we are asking the BJP is to implement 50;50 power sharing arrangement as decided earlier.
Earlier, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray spoke about the BJP’s refusal to share with it the Chief Minister’s post on a rotational basis. He said that the Sena was prepared to hold talks with the CM’s post. “Let them call us up. We can have discussions. The issue is not whether their CM or our CM will be first, it is about sharing the post for 30 months each, as per the deal we reached with them earlier. We want nothing more and nothing less,” Uddhav said.
Meanwhile, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a memorandum, seeking steps to expedite government formation and avoid the President’s Rule in the State.