Tie-up with Sena to be fatal for Congress, says Sanjay Nirupam

Tying up with the Shiv Sena in order to form government in Maharashtra will be fatal for the Congress, said former state president of Congress Sanjay Nirupam, who was miffed with the party leadership over the nomination of candidates in the recently-held assembly elections.

Stating that the Congress-NCP government in the state was only an imagination, he said on Sunday (November 10) that the opposition alliance will require the support of the Shiv Sena to turn that imagination into reality. “If we take Shiv Sena’s support, it will be fatal for the Congress,” he concluded.

This comes hours after another former state chief, Milind Deora sparked a controversy saying that the governor should invite the Congress-NCP alliance to form government since the BJP and the Sena are still tied up in a deadlock.

Maharashtra’s Governor should invite NCP-Congress – the second largest alliance – to form the government now that BJP-Shivsena have refused to do so

— Milind Deora मिलिंद देवरा (@milinddeora) November 10, 2019

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik said the party will hold a meeting on Tuesday (November 12) to discuss the current political situation and decide whether they will stake claim to form government in the state if the BJP-Shiv Sena combine doesn’t. This comes days after the opposition party announced its reluctance to stake claim to form government in Maharashtra with its leader Sharad Pawar stating that it will play the role of Opposition.

“If BJP-Shiv Sena form the government, we will sit in Opposition. If they don’t form the government, then Congress-NCP will try to form an alternative government,” ANI quoted Malik as saying. He spoke on behalf of his party and said that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari invited the BJP to form the government yesterday when the same should have been done this 15 days ago.

Also read: BJP, Sena hold separate meetings to break Maharashtra deadlock

Since neither party holds the majority, Koshyari also expressed concerns regarding the poaching of MLAs. He declared that the NCP will vote against the saffron party if they take the oath. NCP leader Sharad Pawar had earlier said that his party will not make any attempts to form the government in Maharashtra.

Malik, however, claimed that he was surprised by this turn of events.

He concluded, saying, “The second largest party is the Shiv Sena. If Shiv Sena gets a chance to form the government, then the Congress-NCP will take a decision.” Malik’s statement also comes after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut stated that if no other party came forward to form the government in the state, then their party would.

Meanwhile, the deadlock between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over equal sharing of the top post continued on Sunday with both the parties convening meetings over their course of action.

(With inputs from agencies)