Mumbai: Amid the stalemate over government formation after the October 21 assembly polls in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut along with Maharashtra minister Ramdas Kadam on Monday met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
The Shiv Sena leaders met Koshyari at 5 pm, a Raj Bhavan official said.
The development came at a time when the BJP and the Shiv Sena are engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over the equal distribution of cabinet portfolios and the term of chief minister's post for 2.5 years each.
Prior to the meeting Raut said the governor was like the state's guardian and therefore, he would meet him to talk on various issues.
"It will be a courtesy meet and not political. I am going to talk to the governor on various issues. We will also inform him about our stand," he told reporters here without elaborating.
The meeting took place a day after the Rajya Sabha member claimed his party would soon have its chief minister with the support of "170 MLAs".
With the deadlock over formation of government continuing in the state, Raut also said on Sunday that talks with the BJP will take place only on the issue of the chief minister's post.
However, Chief Minister Fadnavis told reporters in Akola on Sunday that the new government will be formed soon.
Amid the impasse, the Sena also appeared to have reached out to the NCP as its senior leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday disclosed to reporters a message sent to him by Raut.
The message read: "Namaskar mi Sanjay Raut. Jai Maharashtra".
Reacting to it, Pawar said, "This means I should call him. I will call and check."
Pawar meets Sonia
With the government formation in Maharashtra in a limbo, NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday. The responsibility of forming the government in Maharashtra is with the BJP, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said after the meeting.
"The BJP is responsible for forming the government in Maharashtra as they along with their ally have the numbers. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray or anyone else in the Shiv Sena has not sought the NCP support," Pawar told reporters after meeting Gandhi.
Asked if one could see Sharad Pawar coming back as Maharashtra CM, he said a categorical "no".
Fadnavis meets Shah
Chief Minister Fadnavis also met BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital on Monday.
In the recent polls to 288-member state Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP-54 and Congress-44.
25 Shiv Sena MLAs ready to switch sides?
Independent MLA Ravi Rana, who has extended support to the BJP in Maharashtra, on Monday claimed that "some 25 MLAs" of the Shiv Sena were in touch with him over formation of the next government.
The MLA from Badnera in Amravati district dubbed the Sena as "very arrogant" and claimed the Uddhav Thackeray-led party will split and nearly two dozen MLAs will join the BJP if Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis forms the next government without its saffron ally. The Sena has 56 MLAs.
Rana, along with his wife Navneet Kaur Rana, the Independent Lok Sabha member from Amravati, met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari here.
The independent MLA said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray should understand that the mandate of the October 21 assembly polls was in favour of the saffron alliance and not any one party.
Incidentally, Rana won from the seat in the Vidarbha region for a third consecutive term with backing of the opposition Congress-NCP alliance.
(With inputs from PTI.)
