BJP: Take anything but chief minister's post; Shiv Sena unmoved

Despite time almost running out the impasse between the prepoll alliance partners BJP and Shiv Sena doesnt seem like it will end anytime soon The BJP continued to steadfastly reject the Senas demand for the CMs position On Monday CM Devendra Fadnavis met party president Amit Shah in Delhi who is reported to have hardened his stand against the Sena and told the CM to wait and watch till the latter concedes groundIn another development in the national capital NCP boss Sharad Pawar kept up the Senas hopes of forming a nonBJP government when he said if he were to answer questions on extending support to the Senaled formation he would first need to get a proposal from Sena president Uddhav Thackeray Sena MP Sanjay Raut had met Pawar twice but the NCP chief had said their meetings werent politicalWe will form the govt CMSpeaking to the media on Monday Fadnavis said without mentioning the saffron alliance that his party would form the new government in Maharashtra very soon because the people wanted it Later he also discussed the political crisis with union minister and his senior from Nagpur Nitin Gadkari who is being seen as a troubleshooter as well as an alternative CM candidate midday couldnt independently confirm Gadkaris candidature even as many in the BJP reiterated that Fadnavis was the party leaderships first choiceWorried Devendra Fadnavis BJP insiders said the party was willing to offer Sena more in portfolios but not the CMs post The official talks havent moved ahead because both parties are upset with each other The BJP has taken Sena MP Sanjay Rauts caustic criticism very seriously and wants it stopped immediately while the Sena is out to prove the BJP leadership liars in view of the rejection of an assurance that it would be allowed to share the CMs position for twoandahalf years The indecision in forming the government by the alliance that has enough strength in the house has wasted 11 days after the poll resultsState BJP president told the media in Pune district that the CM and Thackeray were expected to meet soon He also said that the reported nomination of Gadkari as a CM alternative was the medias creationBJP insiders said there was strong possibility of their team taking oath without the Sena but couldnt respond when asked whether the government would pass the floor test and also win the Speakers post The current house dissolves on November 9 The constitutional experts in Vidhan Bhavan were divided in their opinion when asked if the government needed to be put in place before the dissolution If the crisis intensifies further will the state have Presidents rule Experts couldnt opine unanimously but Pawar made remarked cryptically I dont know whether the President has assured the BJP to enforce the rule he said when asked about a BJP ministers indication that Presidents rule could come into picture if need beWont return to state as CMAfter apprising Congress president Sonia Gandhi of the dramatic situation in Maharashtra Pawar said the people of the state were strongly opposed to the BJP but the discussion about supporting the Sena could be discussed only with Thackeray He said the NCP and Congress were observing the developments closely that established that the Sena wanted to lead the government We dont have the numbers but we understand that the parties who have a majority should form the government at the earliest by sorting internal issues Pawar saidHowever Pawar flatly denied the possibility of him returning to Maharashtra as the CM of a nonBJP government He said he would meet Gandhi again in the next two days after discussing further possibilities with the Congress and NCP leaders in Maharashtra We will declare our decision after meeting Soniaji againWe arent delaying thingsShiv Sena leaders Ramdas Kadam and Sanjay Raut meet journalists post their meeting with the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Monday PicSuresh KarkeraSanjay Raut met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to clarify the Senas position and request him to take the lead in resolving the crisis by inviting the single largest party BJP to form the governmentRaut said he had told the governor that the Sena wasnt responsible for delaying government formation The state has got a governor who is wellversed with the laws and political situation I told him that we should not be held responsible for delaying the new government said RautWe have no idea what has caused the delay We told the governor that the Sena will support whatever is constitutionally correct We demanded that the government be formed as early as possible said the MPInterestingly Raut claimed on Sunday that his party would get 175 MLAs together to form the government without the BJP When asked a smiling Pawar said I wonder if he Raut counted big brothers BJP share in the 175Sena chief Thackeray hadnt responded till the time of going to print but it was learnt reliably that he would visit rainaffected farmers in the hinterland on Tuesday as wellNov 9 Day the current 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