NCP has been given a deadline of 8:30 pm Tuesday. Senior leaders of NCP and Congress will meet on Tuesday, to mull on the prospects of forming a non-BJP government in the state with the Shiv Sena.
"NCP and Congress will have a meeting tomorrow (November 12) to decide about Shiv Sena, many senior leaders from both the parties will be present in tomorrow's meeting," said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Monday.
"Our delegation has been invited by the Governor and the indication is that a letter of invitation will be given to us. Tomorrow we shall discuss with the Congress on the ways and means to form the next government," NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik told newspersons after Governor's invite.
State unit NCP president Jayant Patil said the party will discuss the issue with Congress and get back to the governor by 8:30 pm on Tuesday.
"As per the procedure, the governor has given us a letter being the third largest party in the state of Maharashtra and therefore, we have suggested to him that we will have to talk to our alliance partner," Patil told reporters.
The day is likely to witness a flurry of meetings and hectic parleys again, as NCP will attempt to muster the support of Congress to form a non-BJP government in the state with Shiv Sena.
10 am: Congress core group meeting
11 am: NCP legislative party meet
1 pm: NCP core group meeting
5 pm: BJP core group meeting
Earlier, senior NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar informed the media that he was called by the Governor at 8.30 p.m. and he was proceeding to the Raj Bhavan for a meeting along with half-a-dozen other leaders, but claimed that he had no knowledge as to why he was called.
Malik added that given the short 24-hour time limit, the Congress-NCP could not comply with all the requirements to enable the Shiv Sena finalise its claim for forming the government.
"The Governor requires letters with signatures, names, constituency names and the number of all the supporting legislators which was difficult to organise at such a short notice. The Sena sought additional time, but the Governor expressed his inability to grant the extension," Malik said.
Shiv Sena fails to show numbers:
On Sunday night, the Governor had asked the Shiv Sena to "indicate the willingness and ability" of the party to stake claim, hours after its pre-poll partner and longtime ally BJP declined to form the government.
The Sena, the second largest party in the 288-member House with 56 MLAs after the BJP's 105 members, had time till 7.30 pm to stake claim on a day marked by hectic parleys with its chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and having a telephonic conversation with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The NCP has 54 MLAs while the Congress has 44.
As Uddhav Thackeray met Pawar at a suburban hotel in Mumbai and the Congress corralled its MLAs in a Jaipur resort, Arvind Sawant, the lone Sena minister in the Union council of ministers submitted his resignation.
Putting up a brave front, Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray told reporters outside Raj Bhavan in Mumbai after meeting the Governor that his party's claim on formation of a government still stands, as two parties have agreed "in-principle" to support the Sena-led government. He didn't take names of the Congress and the NCP.
Aaditya said Governor Koshyari refused to grant more time to the Sena to muster numbers.
"We have initiated talks with the two parties. Both the parties have expressed their support in-principle to the Sena," he said. adding, "We informed the Maharashtra governor about our willingness to stake a claim for government formation. Shiv Sena MLAs have already issued their support in writing," he said.
BJP to wait and watch:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to adopt a stance of "wait and watch" amidst the political crisis in Maharashtra. The party held its core group meeting on Monday to discuss the political situation.
"The BJP core team meeting has concluded. The political situation in the state was discussed in the meeting. On its basis, BJP is taking the stand of 'wait and watch'," said senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar here on Monday.
(inputs from agencies)