MUMBAI:

, Sena MP and Saamna executive editor, said on Wednesday that the party had got no proposal from the BJP on government formation and again dismissed the possibility of the Sena reaching any new agreement with the BJP except the “50:50” formula that was “agreed upon” prior to the polls.

Raut also met Sharad Pawar again on Wednesday, his second meeting with the NCP chief in two weeks. He clarified it was a courtesy meeting. “He (Sharad Pawar) is a senior leader of the state and the country. He is worried about the political situation in

today. We had a brief discussion,” Raut said.

Later, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Hussain Dalwai held talks with Raut at the Saamna office in the city. “There should be no BJP CM in Maharashtra,” Dalwai told mediapersons.

Dalwai had last week written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying the party should support a Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra. “The Congress and NCP should take all necessary steps to keep the BJP out of power. I had a very positive discussion with Raut,” he said.

Raut said the BJP was free to meet governor B S Koshyari whenever they wished to. Senior BJP leaders are slated to meet the governor on Thursday.

“We met the governor. The Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale also met him. And if BJP leaders are meeting the governor (to stake claim to for m the gover nment), then they should for m the gover nment as they are the single largest party,” Raut said. “We have been saying all along that the BJP, being the single largest party, should form the government,” he added. Responding to Pawar’s statement asking the BJP and Sena to form the state government at the earliest, Raut said, “He is right. The party with 105 MLAs should form the government.”

Raut also claimed again that there was a “consensus” between the BJP and his party before the assembly elections on sharing the chief minister’s post. No fresh proposal has been received from the BJP or sent to it from the Sena, he added.

To a question on when there would be a consensus on the chief minister’s post, Raut said, “There was a consensus on the chief minister’s post before the elections.”

Raut has come in for strong criticism from the pro-RSS and pro-BJP daily Tarun Bharat from Nagpur. The paper has accused him of being the Sena’s “parrot” and of being reckless in his statements. CM Devendra Fadnavis had, after the election results, accused Saamna, edited by Raut, of derailing saffron talks and ties.