Devendra Fadnavis Meets Maharashtra Governor In ‘Courtesy Call’
BJP and Shiv Sena claim the leaders want to meet the governor for Diwali greeting and not govenrment formation in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in Mumbai on Monday morning, amid the ongoing tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena over sharing of power in the next state government.
A Raj Bhawan official told PTI that it was a "courtesy call". Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote is also slated to meet the governor on Monday.
"This is a festival of lights and Raote will meet Governor Koshyari to extend Diwali greetings on behalf of the Shiv Sena. There will be no political discussion on Maharashtra government formation," a senior leader of the party said.
As the BJP's tally went down in the Maharashtra elections held last week compared to its 2014 performance, its ally Shiv Sena's chief Uddhav Thackeray raised a pitch for "equal sharing" of power.
Thackeray reminded the BJP of the 50:50 formula "agreed upon" between himself, BJP President Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
On Saturday, he demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing "equal formula for sharing of power" before holding talks on staking the claim to form the next alliance government in the state.
In the just-concluded elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally. The Shiv Sena's tally also came down to 56 seats from 63 in 2014.