With less than three days left for the government formation in Maharashtra, a delegation of senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are scheduled to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at 10:30 am on Thursday, to stake claim. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has also summoned his party's newly-elected 56 MLAs for government formation talks at his residence in Bandra. Meanwhile, the Governor's office has been informed about the visit by the BJP delegation.
According to sources, a Shiv Sena delegation led by Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai also met BJP leaders on the sidelines of a meeting held to review the unseasonal rains in the state.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had chaired the meeting with all ministers who have toured affected areas to take stock of the situation. These included the Sena ministers as well, sources said.
Presently, Maharashtra witnesses a curious game in which all major political parties are engaged in 'no harm no foul'.
The two allies - the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena -- fought the elections jointly and secured a majority, but they are locked in a tough fight over the post of Chief Minister, which both are not willing to give up at any cost.
Claiming the support of 170 MLAs, the Shiv Sena has openly dared the BJP, which has emerged as the single largest party with 105 MLAs plus some independents, to stake its claim to form the government.
On its part, the NCP and Congress are waiting for the right set of developments before they go in for the kill though both their leaders seem to be going out of their way to ensure a stable new regime for the state.
However, at a much-anticipated packed media briefing, NCP President Sharad Pawar smiled and poured cold water on Sena's desperate plans to form a government, possibly in alliance with NCP with outside support of the Congress.
The NCP's change in tack was ostensibly due to Sena's reluctance to withdraw its sole presence at the Centre, Heavy Industry Minister Arvind Sawant and dilly-dallying on the Congress' demand for the powerful post of Speaker in the next government.
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