Shiv Sena's Raut to meet Maharashtra Governor today, claims support of 170 MLAs

Mumbai: Political wrangling over formation of government in Maharashtra continues even 10 days after the assembly poll verdict gave enough numbers to the BJP and the Shiv Sena which are unable to bury their differences over power sharing, a delay resulting into churning out of various speculations about likely political re-alignments.

For the record, the Sena on Sunday escalated its rhetoric with senior leader Sanjay Raut claiming the party would soon have its chief minister with the support of "170 MLAs".

However, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut along with other senior party leaders is scheduled to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at 5 pm on Monday.

"Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, along with other senior party leaders, is scheduled to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at 5 pm," the office of Maharashtra Governor said on Sunday.

Raut has also confirmed that he will meet the Governor and request him to invite the single largest party to form the government in Maharashtra.

The development comes at a time when the BJP and the Shiv Sena are engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over the equal distribution of Cabinet portfolios and the term of chief minister's post for 2.5 years each.

While the BJP is firm on their stand that Devendra Fadnavis will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena is seeking an equal term for chief minister's post.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar had recently said that Raut dropped a text message to him.

"This is the first time after elections that he has contacted me. I do not know why he messaged me. His message reads "Jai Maharashtra Saheb, I am Sanjay Raut". I will call him in a while to know about it," The NCP leader had said.

The BJP has emerged as the single largest party by winning 105 seats in Maharashtra polls while the Shiv Sena has got 56 seats in the 288-member assembly.