Sena chief Udhav Thackeray will stake claim to form the government on Monday with the NCP's support, sources said.
The Shiv Sena is all set to stake claim to form government in Maharashtra with support from the NCP. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday invited Shiv Sena, the second largest party in the assembly, to form the government after the BJP expressed its inability as it does not have the required number to reach the majority mark of 145.
"Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari today asked the leader of elected members of the second largest party, the Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde (party's legislative leader) to indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government in Maharashtra," the office of the governor said.
Sena chief Udhav Thackeray will stake claim to form the government on Monday with the NCP's support. Congress is likely to support the minority Shiv Sena-NCP government from the outside, sources said.
The NCP has offered support to Shiv Sena if Uddhav Thackeray himself becomes the chief minister, sources have said.
If such an alliance government does fructify, Uddhav will become the first member of the Thackeray family to be part of any government in the Shiv Sena's history. Earlier during the assembly elections, his son Aaditya Thackeray became the first member of the family to ever contest the election.
According to sources, the Shiv Sena and the NCP have finalised a power-sharing deal to keep the BJP out of power. Under the agreement, said to be finalised after talks between Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the former will get the CM post while the deputy CM will be from the latter.
According to sources, Uddhav Thackeray will be the Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar will be his deputy while NCP's Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil is likely to get the home ministry.
The Congress, which is only offering the outside support and not formally joining the government, may get the assembly speaker's post, sources said.
The deal also involves Shiv Sena severing all ties with the BJP, including pulling out its one minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.
Since Shiv Sena has 56 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly, way below the half-way mark of 145, it will need both the NCP's 54 and Congress' 44 legislators to reach the magic number.
Officially, the NCP maintains that it is yet to receive a proposal from the Sena, despite sources claiming a final deal.
"If Governor invites Shiv Sena to stake claim to form government then we will think about our next step. Till now, we haven't received any proposal from Shiv Sena. The final decision will be taken by Congress and NCP together as declared by Pawar Sahab," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said before the official invitation was sent by the governor to Shiv Sena.
"We have called a meeting of our MLAs on Nov 12. If Shiv Sena wants our support, they will have to declare that they have no relation with BJP and they should pull out from National Democratic Alliance (NDA). All their ministers will have to resign from Union Cabinet," he added.
Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant is the lone Union Cabinet Minister and holds the portfolio of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprise.
The Shiv Sena seems confident of forming the government with senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut even saying that "there will be CM from Shiv Sena, at any cost."
"Party chief Uddhav Thackeray ji clearly said today that Chief Minister will be from Shiv Sena. If Uddhav ji has said so, then it means that there will be CM from Shiv Sena, at any cost," Raut said.
Shiv Sena and BJP contested the recently-held assembly elections together but failed to reach an agreement for government formation.
On Friday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis submitted his resignation to the governor.
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