Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh on Monday. (File) Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh on Monday. (File)

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Tuesday said imposing President’s rule in Maharashtra will be an insult to people of the state. He added that it is very understanding of BJP to discuss the sharing of the chief minister’s post for 2.5 years, and the Shiv Sena wants a written assurance of it.

Earlier in the day, he ruled out that Sharad Pawar is in the race for the chief minister post, a day after the NCP chief said his party doesn’t have the numbers to form government but added “can’t say what will happen” down the road.

Raut, who met the Governor Bhagat Singh on Monday, maintained that the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be from the Sena camp.

“Politics of Maharashtra changing; In our fight for justice, we will win,” Raut was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

On Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Pawar were in Delhi to meet BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, respectively.

While Fadnavis is learnt to have been given the go ahead by Shah to initiate backroom negotiations with Sena over government formation, Pawar signaled that the Congress and NCP are keeping their options open.

Pawar said the NCP and Congress don’t have the numbers to form an alternative government “as on today” but added he “can’t say what will happen” in the future.

The Sena, which has been demanding rotational chief ministership, had signaled that it was in touch with both the NCP and Congress. A section of the Congress leadership in Maharashtra is in favour of exploiting the rift in the Sena-BJP and top leaders had last week briefed Sonia about the evolving situation in the state. Pawar said he will meet Sonia again in the next couple of days after discussing the situation with his colleagues in Mumbai.

Asked if it was a bargaining game going on between the BJP and Sena, Pawar said, “It doesn’t seem to be a bargaining game….I think the game between the two is serious.”

Pawar said the mood of the people is against the BJP but said he has not discussed anything related to government formation with the Sena. Rajya Sabha MP and Sena leader Sanjay Raut had met Pawar last week. Pawar downplayed his meeting with Raut and argued such discussions will have to be with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. “The BJP and their allies have the numbers. It is their responsibility to form the government. We are watching what they are doing,” he said.

“Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has not spoken to me….neither have they given us any proposal nor have we given them..,” he said. Asked if one could see Sharad Pawar coming back as Maharashtra CM, he said a categorical “no”.

The BJP and Shiv Sena are locked in a bitter tussle over the issue of chief minister’s post, resulting in a stalemate in government formation despite results of the Assembly polls on October 24 giving the saffron alliance a combined seat strength of 161, way past the 145 majority mark in the 288-member House. In the polls, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP-54 and Congress-44.

with PTI inputs

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