BJP President Amit Shah congratulated Devendra Fadnavis and Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar on taking oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively on Saturday.
The meeting between Thackerays and Pawar took place on a day when Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said in New Delhi that his party and the NCP have "complete unanimity" on all issues concerning government formation in Maharashtra and will now hold talks with the Shiv Sena to "finalise the architecture of the alliance".
In a late-night development on Thursday, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray along with his son and party MLA Aaditya Thackeray called on NCP supremo Sharad Pawar at his residence after he returned from Delhi.
The Congress and the NCP held a marathon meeting to discuss the common minimum programme (CMP) to form an alliance government in Maharashtra, saying that no government can be formed without the three parties.
In the October 21 Maharashtra polls, the BJP-Sena saffron alliance won 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, bagged 44 and 54 seats respectively. However, failing to evolve a consensus over the chief minister's post, the two saffron parties parted ways, with the Sena exploring the possibility of tying up with the Congress-NCP.
To a question whether Sena President Uddhav Thackeray will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sanjay Raut said, "for the cause of the farmers, he will go and meet anybody."
A meeting with the Congress scheduled on Tuesday to further discuss the possibility of government formation in Maharashtra was called off due to the pre-occupation of Congress leaders with Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary events.
Sanjay Raut also asserted that a strong and stable government led by his party will be formed in Maharashtra soon. Speaking at a press conference, Sanjay Raut said, "A Shiv Sena-led government will be formed in Maharashtra soon. It will be a stable, strong and effective government. We want Uddhav Thackerey to lead the government."
Following the inability of BJP, the single largest party, to form the government, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari last week invited the second and third largest parties, namely- Shiv Sena and NCP to form government in the state.
Another day has passed and Maharashtra's political conundrum doesn't look like ending anytime soon. An alliance between the Shiv Sena and Congress-NCP, which looked like a done deal a few days ago, is still not official. Even as Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi met NCP Chief Sharad Pawar to discuss the possibilities, Senior Shiv Sena leader, Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying that the party could yet think of an alliance with the BJP with certain conditions met.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has claimed that in his talk with Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, a possible compromise formula between Shiv Sena and the BJP was discussed.
Politics in Maharashtra took an unexpected turn after the Shiv Sena walked away from its longtime ally BJP over sharing the chief ministerial post after Assembly results were declared on October 24.
Reports are coming in from Maharashtra that Shiv Sena and Congress-NCP have agreed upon a common minimum programme in which the regional saffron party will get the CM post for a full tenure of 5 years while the Congress-NCP alliance will get to choose a deputy CM each.
After the imposition of President's rule in the state, the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP leaders on Wednesday held hectic parleys to work out a 'common minimum programme' for government formation.
One of the key targets during the November 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, the Trident Hotel has become the epicenter of power negotiations for government formation in Maharashtra, coincidentally during the same month.
Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was discharged from hospital on Wednesday noon reiterated that the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra will be from Shiv Sena. Speaking to media after being discharged from Lilavati Hospital, Raut said, "Next chief minister of Maharashtra will be from the Shiv Sena."
Amid Maharashtra deadlock, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday after meeting with Congress leaders said talks over government formation in the state were progressing in the "right direction" and a decision will be taken at an appropriate time.
The Shiv Sena will not mention in the Supreme Court on Wednesday its plea challenging the governor's decision of not granting it 3 days time for getting a letter of support for government formation in Maharashtra, according to the party lawyer.
Maharashtra government formation : President's rule was imposed in Maharashtra on Tuesday as Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in a report to the Centre stated that the formation of a stable government was impossible in the current situation despite all his efforts.
Both NCP and Congress indicated that they were not in a hurry to form the non-BJP government. "We are in no hurry as the Governor has given us enough time to discuss and decide," said Pawar. NCP and Congress had fought the polls as allies. NCP has won 54 seats and Congress 44.
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