Congress, NCP meet, but fail to agree on CMP

New Delhi : The Shiv Sena on Wednesday did not mention in the Supreme Court its plea challenging the Governor's decision not to grant it three days' time to get the letter of support to form the government in Maharashtra.

Ahead of the apex court judges commencing the hearing in the courtroom, the lawyers representing Shiv Sena told PTI that the party has preferred not to mention the petition as there was change in the political situation in the State after the imposition of the President's Rule.

A scheduled joint committee meeting of Congress and NCP leaders to work out details of Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for formation of government with support of the Shiv Sena was cancelled, a visibly upset Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday night, triggering speculations.

BJP chief Amit Shah rejected the Sena's claim that it was promised rotational chief ministership in a new Maharashtra government, and instead accused its estranged ally of coming up with post-electoral conditions that could not be accepted.

"Before the elections, both PM Narendra Modi and I had said many times in public that Devendra Fadnavis will be the Chief Minister if the alliance wins. Nobody objected back then. Now they have come up with new demands that are not acceptable to us," Amit Shah told news agency ANI in his first remarks ever since the BJP fell out with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

The BJP chief, who also serves as the Home Minister, condemned the manner in which his party's spat with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had gone public. "It's not in our party's tradition to disclose what transpires behind closed doors," he said. "If the Sena thinks that it can revolt and get the people's sympathy, they really don't know the public."

The BJP appeared needling its ally-turned-political rival Shiv Sena, which is trying to stitch up a coalition government in Maharashtra with ideologically incompatible Congress and NCP, on "Hindutva".

The Sena is holding deliberations with the Congress and the NCP to rope them in to form a government in the state, which came under President's Rule on Tuesday evening. "It is up to the Shiv Sena how to fit their 'Hindutva' agenda in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) with the Congress," senior BJP leader and Union minister Raosaheb Danve said.