MUMBAI :In a new twist in the ongoing tug-of-war between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena over government formation in Maharashtra, reports are rife that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Sharad Pawar, the opposition stalwart who can facilitate a reconfiguration of alliances.
Reports suggest Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader have spoken on the phone. Sharad Pawar, say sources, will fly to Delhi to meet with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The conversation took place when Thackeray called on party leader Sanjay Raut’s phone while he was at Sharad Pawar’s residence. This comes at a time when there is a high-level of speculation about the NCP and the Congress helping the Shiv Sena make up the numbers to form the government in Maharashtra.

These reports have contributed significantly to speculation that the Shiv Sena has sent feelers to the NCP-Congress combine, upset with its ally BJP for not accepting its demand for rotational chief ministership and a “50:50” deal for power sharing.

Buzz about the Sena talks with its rival became louder when its leader Sanjay Raut met with Pawar last afternoon. “I met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence today. I had come to wish him on the occasion of Diwali. We also discussed the politics in Maharashtra,” Sanjay Raut told news agency ANI.
The stalemate over government formation refuses to end with Shiv Sena refusing to compromise its demand of getting an equal share in the chief minister’s post.In case, it is not given the post of CM, the party may seek for the Home, Finance and Urban Development portfolios. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is unlikely to agree to these demands.
Although both parties together have a comfortable majority, the Shiv Sena has been insisting on a 50:50 formula, which Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis denies was ever spoken about.
The BJP won 105 of the state’s 288 seats and the Sena finished with 56 in the state election last week. Together, they are comfortably past the 145-majority mark. Pawar’s NCP placed third in the Maharashtra election with 54 seats, just two behind the Shiv Sena. The Congress won 44.
“If the Shiv Sena decides, it will get the required numbers to form stable government in the state. People have given the mandate to form government on basis of the 50-50 formula that was reached in front of people of Maharashtra. They want a chief minister from the Shiv Sena,” Sanjay Raut told reporters this morning.

“The Rajya Sabha MP added. He also delivered a message through a tweet without naming the BJP: “Sahib, don’t feed your arrogance…many Alexanders have drowned in the ocean of time….”

The BJP won 105 of the state’s 288 seats and the Sena finished with 56 in the state election last week. Together, they are comfortably past the 145-majority mark. Mr Pawar’s NCP placed third in the Maharashtra election with 54 seats, just two behind the Shiv Sena. The Congress won 44.
“It is time to remind the BJP about the formula arrived at when BJP chief Amit Shah visited my home. We had decided on a 50:50 formula,” Uddhav Thackeray told the media on October 24, the day of the Maharashtra poll results.
The BJP’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is eyeing another full term, has denied such a deal. On Thursday, Uddhav Thackeray reportedly told his party MLAs he was disappointed with Mr Fadnavis’s stand.
The NCP has declared that the people’s mandate is for the party to sit in the opposition, along with ally Congress and other parties.That clarification came after reports that the NCP had conveyed to the Sena its willingness to support it in a new political configuration to keep the BJP out of power.
Mr Pawar has backed the Sena’s demand. “In the 1990s also, there was a 50-50 formula for the Shiv Sena and the BJP. So they have past experience (in running the government). So the Sena can insist, nothing wrong in that,” Mr Pawar had said in an interview with a TV Chanel.
(Bureau Report With Agency Inputs ).

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