BJP’s outreach move ahead of Madarihat bypolls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up for a 'public outreach' campaign in the Madarihat Assembly segment, as it seeks to retain the seat in an upcoming by-election.
The NCP and the Congress were taking it slow as they were cautious of extending their support to ex-BJP ally Shiv Sena.
Hoping to form a stable government with the support of the Congress and NCP even as President’s Rule was declared in Maharashtra on Tuesday, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the three parties “will come together even though they are from different ideologies”.
He said that if the BJP and Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir could find a way to work together, then it is possible here as well.
“We are from different ideologies but we can come together just like the BJP has done,” Uddhav told reporters. “The BJP and Shiv Sena were together for many years but now Shiv Sena has to go with the Congress-NCP,” he further said, adding that Sena will hold more talks with the two parties.
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The NCP and the Congress were taking it slow as they were cautious of extending their support to ex-BJP ally Shiv Sena.
With this, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday afternoon recommended President’s Rule in the state after none of the three parties, whom the Governor had invited to stake claim, showed an intent to form the government within the stipulated time.
After the BJP refused to stake claim of the government stating that it does not have required numbers, state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday night invited the Shiv Sena, which is the second-largest party, to form the government in the state. Shiv Sena asked for an extension of 48 hours to claim the government formation.
However, the Shiv Sena request for the three-day extension for submitting ‘requisite’ letters of support from other political parties was rejected by the Governor.
Following this, the Maharashtra Governor late on Monday invited the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — ranked third largest in last month’s polls — to form the next government in the state.
Reportedly, NCP had also asked for three days to come to a conclusion on the issue of government formation in Maharashtra.
Uddhav in a press briefing further questioned how the BJP came together with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP.
“We (Sena, Congress and NCP) will hold discussion and because we are from different ideologies, these discussions may take some time to come to a consensus,” he added.
Thackeray had reportedly met senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel Tuesday night and assured that all issues will be resolved.
Meanwhile, the Congress will call a strategy meeting after the Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday on a petition filed by the Shiv Sena against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to not extend the time given to the party to prove their ability to form government in the state.
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