The NCP will be forced to think about an alternative if the BJP-Shiv Sena combine fails to form the government in Maharashtra, the opposition party’s leader Jayant Patil said on Tuesday.
Patil, who is the NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief, also said there was no need to impose President’s Rule in the state as people will not tolerate it. “We will be forced to think seriously about an alternative if the BJP and Shiv Sena fail to given any solution together,” Patil told a news channel.
Patil also said that, for the NCP, there was no question about supporting the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. He also said that the NCP does not have the numbers to put up a candidate for the Assembly speaker’s post.
Meanwhile, NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said a joint delegation of his party and the Congress will call on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday evening to raise the issue of crop losses due to untimely rains in parts of Maharashtra. “We will raise concerns of the farmers during the meeting… This will be an apolitical meeting,” Malik said.
In the recently held state polls, the BJP won 105 seats and Shiv Sena 56, giving the saffron alliance a combined seat strength of 161, way past the majority mark of 145 seats in the 288-member House. Besides, the opposition NCP won 54 seats while the Congress bagged 44 seats.
The BJP and Shiv Sena have been bickering over sharing the chief minister’s post. The Shiv Sena wants the chief minister’s post to be shared for two-and-half years on rotational basis, but the BJP has rejected such an arrangement. BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar recently said the state may see President’s Rule if there is no government in place by November 7.
