Ramdas Athawale

MUMBAI: Amid political rift in 'Mahayuti' over the formation of government in Maharashtra, Republican Party of India chief Ramdas Athawale on Friday said that if the Shiv Sena does not support the BJP, then there is a possibility that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs and that of Sena MLAs will defect and go against their respective parties' decisions.

"If the Shiv Sena does not support the BJP in forming the government, then they will not get any portfolio too. As a result, there is a possibility of the NCP and the Shiv Sena's MLAs defecting and going against their respective parties' decisions," Athawale told ANI.

Asked about the idea of BJP and Shiv Sena sharing the power for 2.5 years each, Athawale, also a Union Minister, said that it is not a "good idea".

"In the past, we have never seen such a formula of having rotational chief ministers from two parties for 2.5 years each. It is not a good idea. The Sena can get deputy chief minister's post and should avoid taking support from the NCP as it will be an unnatural alliance," he said.

The RPI president said that he would try to sort out the difference between Sena's chief Uddhav Thackrey and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as he has good relations with them.

Meanwhile, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik, while reacting to Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's claim that the BJP is compelling his party to look for an alternative, said: "Yes, the alternative option is possible in the scenario."

"There should be no doubt in Shiv Sena demanding the chief minister's post. However, both BJP and Shiv Sena have got people's mandate to form a stable government in Maharashtra," Malik said.

The NCP leader stressed that he wants 'Mahayuti' to prove majority on the floor of the House and form the government, adding that if the alliance failed to do so, then the NCP will try to prove the majority.

The political development has taken a new turn in Maharashtra with Raut meeting NCP chief Sharad Pawar, buzzing speculations that the two parties are joining hands to come into power in the state.

For quite some time, Raut has been maintaining that Sena can form the government on its own and the new chief minister of Maharashtra will be from his party.

In the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly polls, the BJP-Sena alliance has got an absolute majority with the former emerging as the single largest party in the state with 105 seats.

However, they are yet to stake the claim for the formation of the government in the state.

The Shiv Sena claims that there was a 50-50 power-sharing agreement between the two parties but chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the ally was not promised the chief minister's post for two-and-a-half years when the alliance was finalised before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats in the elections. NCP won 54 seats in the assembly while the Congress won 44 seats in the 288-member assembly.

