Mumbai: The BJP-Shiv Sena Opposition in Maharashtra will seek imposition of President's rule in the state if the new government is not in place by November 3, when the tenure of the present assembly expires, a senior BJP leader said today.
"If the new ministry is not sworn in by November 3, we will meet Governor S C Jamir and demand President's rule in the state," Eknath Khadse, BJP's group leader in the Assembly, told PTI.
"The Congress-NCP leaders are delaying formation of the new government despite the October 22 results giving them the mandate to rule," Khadse said.
Criticising the delay by Congress in forming the government despite finalisation of names for posts of chief minister and deputy chief minister, Khadse said "if the ruling alliance was concerned about people, they would have formed the government by now."
Asked if there were differences between the alliance partners over the Opposition leader's post in Assembly, Khadse said "the tradition is that the post is held by the party with the maximum seats."
In the 288-member House, BJP has 46 MLAs and Sena 44. However, Sena is in no mood to part with the post. Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's recent statement that numbers won't determine who gets to hold the post has only increased confusion, although many feel Khadse will occupy the post.
Khadse was elected group leader at a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs of BJP here on October 30. The meeting was attended by senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar.


