Just an hour after meeting Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar confirmed that the NCP will not make attempts to form the government in Maharashtra.
Holding a press conference, Sharad Pawar confirmed that the NCP will sit in the opposition in Maharashtra. He also urged the Shiv Sena and BJP to respect the people's mandate and form the government soon.
"I don't have anything to say yet. BJP and Shiv Sena have got the mandate of people, so they should form the government as soon as possible. Our mandate is to play the role of Opposition," Sharad Pawar said.
Pawar said that the NCP has no role in government formation. "Where is the question of a Shiv Sena-NCP government? The Shiv Sena and the BJP have been in alliance for 30 years. Sooner or later they will come together," assured Sharad Pawar.
"We don't have numbers otherwise we would have gone ahead and formed the government - I'm not going to be the chief minister," he added.
He reiterated this his party and the Congress have got the mandate to be a "responsible opposition". "I have been the chief minister four times and am not keen on that post again," Pawar said.
On meeting Raut
After his meeting in the morning with senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Pawar told reporters that he was not keen on being the chief minister of the state again.
Speaking about his meeting with Sanjay Raut, Sharad Pawar said, "My meetings with Sanjay Raut are always positive. [Sanjay] Raut met me like he always does. There was no proposal presented."
He also said they are trying to ascertain how the Shiv Sena has claimed the support of 170 MLAs. " Even we are finding out how Sanjay Raut claimed the support of 170 MLAs," he said.
He pointed out that they are both colleagues in the Rajya Sabha and discussed issues on which they could cooperate in Parliament.
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Congress Verdict?
Sharad Pawar said he could only speak on behalf of the NCP and was not sure what ally Congress has decided. The Maratha strongman said he had no idea about the decision taken by the Congress on the political situation in Maharashtra.
Asked about the meeting of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi on Wednesday, Pawar said, "It must be about some road work".
Maharashtra deadlock continues
There has been no headway in government formation after results of the state polls were declared on October 24.
The BJP, which won 105 seats, and the Shiv Sena, which bagged 56 seats, are locked in a bitter tussle over sharing of the chief minister's post and ministerial portfolios in the new government, even 13 days after the Assembly poll verdict handed them enough seats to cobble up a coalition government.
They won 161 seats together in the 288-member House, much above the halfway mark of 145. Besides, the opposition NCP won 54 seats while the Congress got 44 seats.