Raut said in a tweet: “Pehle Mandir Phir Sarkar!! Ayodhya mein Mandir Maharashtra mein Sarkar… Jai Shri Ram.” (File) Raut said in a tweet: “Pehle Mandir Phir Sarkar!! Ayodhya mein Mandir Maharashtra mein Sarkar… Jai Shri Ram.” (File)

Even as the BJP and Shiv Sena continue to be mired in a political deadlock in Maharashtra, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut Saturday hinted towards a further delay in the government formation after the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict.

Raut said in a tweet: “Pehle Mandir Phir Sarkar!! Ayodhya mein Mandir Maharashtra mein Sarkar… Jai Shri Ram.” The Sena leader told news agency PTI: “Next two days, it is only Ayodhya. Nothing on government.”

पहले मंदिर फिर सरकार!!!

अयोध्या में मंदिर

महाराष्ट्र मे सरकार…

जय श्रीराम!!! — Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) November 9, 2019

The term of Maharashtra assembly expires on Saturday midnight. BJP and Sena are currently locked in a bitter dispute with BJP over the issue of 50-50 power-sharing including the rotation of the CM post. Follow Maharashtra Govt formation LIVE

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had submitted his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari Friday, after being unable to stake the claim to form the government with Shiv Sena, despite securing a total of 161 seats, a clear majority in the 288-member House. The Governor has asked him to continue as ‘care-taker CM’ for the time being.

On Friday, Fadnavis said the state was heading for a care taker government and possibly even President’s rule. “I am confident a BJP-led government will be formed in Maharashtra. The people have not given us a mandate to enforce mid-term elections.” He also said the BJP would not poach MLAs from other parties or engineer defections. “The allegations made by the Opposition and the allies are misplaced and aimed at tarnishing the image of BJP,” he said.

Shiv Sena chief Uddav Thackeray also reacted to the verdict, saying that the day will be written in golden letters in India’s history. Thackeray also announced that he might visit Ayodhya on November 24.

“You might remember that I along with Shiv Sainik had gone to Ayodhya last year on November 24 and performed Aarati on banks of Sarayu river. When I had gone there, I had carried the soil from Shivneri, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, with a belief that it has some magic. The issue has been resolved within a year. Now, I again plan to go to Ayodhya on November 24,” Uddhav said while addressing a press conference today.

However, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that the verdict will have no bearing on Maharashtra politics and added that people may even forget the issue within two to three days. On the delay in the formation of government in Maharashtra, Pawar reiterated the BJP and Shiv Sena should form a government as they have the people’s mandate.

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