Shiv Sena to meet for 'final call' today, BJP to meet governor

Shiv Senarsquos machinations to form a khichdi government got a mild jolt on Wednesday but the partyrsquos soaring ambitions were not scuttled fully with the NCP and Congress saying they are still in a waitandwatch modeWHILE the BJP is still prepared for ndash and expected ndasha positive response from the Sena it readied itself to meet the governor on Thursday to apprise him of the crisis NCP President Sharad Pawar on Wednesday kept all stakeholders guessing when he said the BJP and Sena are capable of turning the situation around in the eleventh hour and he was keenly observing developmentsDoes BJP have numbersStressing that the Sena will install the next CM Sanjay Raut questioned the BJPrsquos plan to meet the governor He said any party forming the government needs to have 145 MLAs raising questions whether the BJP had the adequate numberHe said his party hadnrsquot received any proposal from the BJP But finance minister Sudhir Munganttiwar said his party had forwarded Sena a comprehensive proposal The minister said he and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil will be representing CM Fadnavis at the Raj BhavanNCP Chief Sharad Pawar at a press conference along with Jaywant Patil Hemant Takle and Sunil Thatkare at the YB Chavan Auditorium on Wednesday Pic Suresh KarkeraDefusing tensionsEarlier in the day the BJP and Sena camps seemed to have scaled down tensions with cabinet members from both parties met under the leadership of CM Devendra Fadnavis to review the wet drought crisisLater a few Sena ministers discussed the partyrsquos demand with the CM Negotiations through other channels were also being held between the two parties with the Sena not willing to give up on its demand for the CMrsquos post though the BJP has agreed to part with half the portfolios in the council of ministers The Sena hasnrsquot responded officially to the BJPrsquos offer yet but it is also running out of optionsThe BJPrsquos central leadership doesnrsquot seem to want the Sena to get the CMrsquos post Following a very important meeting in Delhi BJP chief Amit Shah and the partyrsquos incharge of Maharashtra elections Bhupendra Yadav are reported to have given the nod to negotiate with Sena over any of its demands other than a place in the CMOFuelling speculations further Pawar told a press conference in Mumbai that he was waiting for BJPrsquos national president Amit Shah to use his skills for forming government when the numbers were adequateldquoPeople voted for the BJP and Sena to rule the staterdquo he said ldquoI expect them to form the government I will be watching the developments over the next twothree daysrdquoDay full of meetingsApart from statelevel talks the leaders from four major parties met in the garb of discussing several issues at various placesFollowing Fadnavisrsquos Tuesday night meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur speculations of the Congress toning down its aggressive approach were rife in Delhi after partyrsquos senior leader Ahmed Patel conferred with Union minister Nitin Gadkari who the CM had met two days agoSena MP Sanjay Raut who is pushing the partyrsquos agenda ahead met NCP boss Sharad Pawar who later said the Sena leader hadnrsquot given him any proposal to support the Sena But not many believed the two hadnrsquot talked the current crisis that the Sena alone can compound further or easeRaut also met his party boss Uddhav Thackeray Later Congress MP Hussain Dalvai met Raut and declared that the opposition parties were unanimous in stalling any potential move to impose Presidentrsquos rule in the state if governmentformation is not possibleLater in the day the Congress leaders went into a huddle to discuss a popular sentiment in the party that the BJP should be kept away from power The Congress has been assured the Speakerrsquos post by the Sena and NCP in return for outside support The Congress parties want the Sena to break away from the NDA as a precondition for this to happen The Sena president met his trusted deputies on Wednesday and has asked the party MLAs to gather in Mumbai for a final call on Thursday161 No of MLAs the saffron alliance hasCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates