Maharashtra: Form govt if you have numbers, Shiv Sena challenges BJP

With stalemate continuing for a fortnight regarding the formation of government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday challenged the BJP to go ahead and form the government alone if it has the numbers. "If you have the mandate, then stake claim to form the government... We have no idea why the BJP is not staking claim to form the government," Raut told mediapersons on Thursday. 

"If you don't have the numbers then admit it. The (Indian) Constitution is for the people of this country, it is not their (BJP's) personal property.We know the constitution well. We will elect the chief minister of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra constitutionally," he asserted.

Reiterating Sena's stance, Raut said that the next Mahrashtra chief minister will be from his party, as demand by them. "People gave the mandate for the alliance, not alone for the BJP... There's no change in Sena's stand on government formation," he said. "We have the numbers to make our own chief minister, we don't need to show that here, we will show that on the floor of the house. We have alternatives, we don't speak without options and alternatives. 

He also added that there was no question of poaching of MLAs by the BJP from the Shiv Sena. "All Shiv Sena MLAs have backed Uddhav Thackeray; whatever decision he takes will be final," he clarified. It was reported earlier in the day that, the party MLAs would be "staying at Hotel Rangsharda for next two days". 

Targeting the BJP, Raut said that those responsible for political instability is harming Maharashtra. "When you say the mandate is for 'Mahayuti', the mandate is also for what was agreed upon when the alliance was formalised (before the Lok Sabha polls)," Raut said.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena are engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over the latter's demand for equal distribution of portfolios and sharing the chief minister's post.

The BJP has rejected the Sena's demand for sharing the chief minister's post for two-and-a-half years each.

The tenure of the present assembly ends on November 9.