In an unprecedented turn of events, the Shiv Sena has quit from the Government with Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and party MP Arvind Sawant resigning from the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet.

The resignation comes as Shiv Sena is preparing to form the government in Maharashtra in alliance with the NCP and Congress.

In a couple of tweets in Marathi, Sawant said: “Before the (2019) Lok Sabha election, a seat and power-sharing formula had been decided. Denying this now is an attempt at portraying Shiv Sena as a liar. It is not only shocking but also an attempt to malign Maharashtra’s pride.”

“Shiv Sena is with the truth. Why should I stay in the central government amid this atmosphere of falsehood? Hence, I am resigning as a Union Minister,” Sawant said.

After the BJP said it did not have required numbers to stake claim of the government, 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.

The Sena, which has 56 MLAs in the 288-member House after the BJP (105), has time till 7:30 pm today to stake the claim. While Shiv Sena has been making efforts to reach out to the NCP and the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led party said the Sena will have to walk out of the NDA first.

The Shiv Sena would have to break away from the BJP-led NDA before the NCP can think of lending support to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party for government formation, the opposition party’s chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that he has not spoken with anyone on Arvind Sawant’s resignation, adding that a decision will be taken only after discussion with the Congress.

The development came hours after the BJP, which emerged the largest party with 105 seats in the Assembly polls, stated that it would not stake claim to form the government as it did not have the supporting numbers in the 288-member House.

“Shiv Sena needs to first exit from the NDA as it has one cabinet post (in the Narendra Modi government). Unless it leaves the NDA, we will wait and watch the developments,” NCP chief spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the Congress has called a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting today at Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi’s residence in Delhi, over the political situation in Maharashtra.

Congress in-charge in Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday held a meeting with the party’s 44 MLAs, who are lodged in a Jaipur resort, to find out their views on the state’s current political situation.

Sources said most MLAs are not averse to the Congress offering conditional support to a Shiv Sena-led government in the state.

But the party will only consider a dialogue with the Shiv Sena after it announces leaving the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and its lone minister Arvind Sawant resigns from the Union Cabinet, sources said.

“Congress should explore all the options available in the state,” said Congress leader Hussain Dalwai.

The newly elected Maharashtra Assembly is a hung house where — the BJP has 105 MLAs, the Shiv Sena 56, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44.

The Sena and the BJP have been locked in a tussle since the Uddhav Thackeray-led party raised demand for the chief minister’s post on a rotational basis and implementation of a “50:50 power-sharing” formula, which entails equal allocation of ministerial portfolios. The BJP has rejected both the demands.