Mumbai: Asserting that there are no saints in politics, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday warned ally BJP against compelling his party to look for an alternative to form government in Maharashtra.
He claimed the two parties had agreed on an “equal power” sharing formula and had even made an announcement on it in Mumbai.
The BJP and the Sena, with 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the new Assembly, are locked in a bitter tussle over sharing of power. The Congress-NCP, though not officially, hinted that a move by the Sena to look beyond the BJP for the government formation may get a positive response from them.
There are 13 Independent MLAs in the newly-elected Assembly and both the BJP and the Sena are trying to attract them to have an upper hand in their negotiations. Two Independent MLAs — including the one who won with the Congress-NCP support, backed the BJP, while another sided with the Sena.
On Monday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Both of them described the meetings as “courtesy calls”.
