Won't Form Government In Maharashtra, Best Wishes To Shiv Sena: BJP

BJP State President Chandrakant Patil said the party's stand has been conveyed to Governor B.S. Koshyari this evening after hectic meetings of the party core committee since morning.

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil today addressed the media and said the party's stand has been conveyed to Governor B.S. Koshyari this evening.

New Delhi: In a major political development, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday admitted it was not in a position to form the government in Maharashtra despite having a public mandate for its pre-poll alliance. Amid high drama over government formation in the state, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil today addressed the media and said the party's stand has been conveyed to Governor B.S. Koshyari this evening after hectic meetings of the party core committee since morning. He said the party does not have the numbers to form the government and accused Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena of insulting people's mandate. "In the recent Assembly elections, Mahayuti got the people's mandate. Which is why the Governor invited BJP to form the government. The mandate was for Mahayuti. But since Shiv Sena cannot join to form the government, we have conveyed to the Governor that we won't be able to form the government in Maharashtra," Patil said. He further asked the former ally to go ahead and form the government with NCP-Congress. "The mandate was given to us (BJP-Shiv Sena) to work together if Shiv Sena wants to disrespect it and form govt with Congress-NCP then all our best wishes are with them," he said. Watch | BJP will not form government in Maharashtra Maharashtra Governor Koshyari on Saturday had asked acting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to "indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government in Maharashtra". The party's core committee met twice today to discuss the Governor's invitation to BJP to form the government in the state. The term of state assembly ended yesterday. The BJP had remerged as the single largest party in the assembly polls winning 105 seats while the Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats.