Maharashtra: Shiv Sena MLAs back Uddhav Thackeray's demands for power sharing

Mumbai, In yet another dampener for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena legislators unanimously endorsed party President Uddhav Thackeray's stand on government formation on the basis of 50:50 power-sharing formula, here on Thursday.

The party's legislators, who were summoned for an urgent meeting by Thackeray at his residence this afternoon, have also given full authority to their chief "to take any decision as he deems fit", party sources said.

Accordingly, the Sena will not compromise on sharing the post of Chief Minister for 30 months each and also 50:50 power-sharing formula that was arrived at before the last Lok Sabha elections.

The MLAs also unanimously declared that only after the BJP agrees to adhere to its promises whould the Sena extend support to it (BJP) for government formation.

"We have given full authority to the Sena chief and his decision will be the final word for us. The CM will be only from Shiv Sena with equal power-sharing as decided earlier," Sena MLA from Sillod Abdul Sattar Nabi told mediapersons after emerging from the crucial meeting.

The party legislators' decision came before a delegation of BJP leaders led by state party chief Chandrakant Patil, ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Ashish Shelar was scheduled to call on Governor B.S. Koshyari at Raj Bhavan.

The Sena legislators' meeting followed shortly after Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari categorically ruled out any possibility of his returning to state politics, but simultaneously expressing optimism that the political crisis here would be resolved soon.

"I am in Delhi. There is no question of my return to state politics. The political crisis in the state will be resolved soon," Gadkari said, scotching all speculation of his being a contender for the post of a consensus CM to defuse the state political deadlock over government formation.

Significantly, both Gadkari and Mungantiwar separately endorsed the name of Devendra Fadnavis as the next CM in a 'Maha-Yuti' government comprising all alliance partners, including the Sena.

Earlier on Thursday, Sena MP Sanjay Raut emphatically reiterated that "the next government will be formed by his party with its own CM and challenged the BJP to produce 145 signatures of support - the simple majority mark required in the 288-member Assembly.

On Wednesday, the Nationalist Congress Party-Congress also urged the BJP-Sena to form the government since they had secured the peoples' mandate and they (NCP-Congress) would prefer to sit in the Opposition benches.

In view of these developments, the political deadlock in the state continued unabated for the 15th day after the assembly election results were announced in which the two main allies BJP-Sena bagged a clear majority but are now not willing to join hands and form the government.