NEW DELHI: The responsibility of forming the government in Maharashtra is with the BJP, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday after meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi here.
Amidst reports that Uddhav Thackeray's party was in touch with the NCP, Pawar said that the Shiv Sena had not sought any support from his party to form the government, but asserted that he couldn't say "what will happen" in the future.
During their meeting, Gandhi and Pawar discussed the current political situation in Maharashtra given the tussle between the BJP and its ally the Shiv Sena, which is playing hardball on the issue of chief minister's post and demanding an equal division of the top post's tenure.
In the meeting that lasted over half an hour, sources said the two leaders discussed the possibilities of the Congress and the NCP supporting the Shiv Sena in case it decides to move out of its alliance with the BJP.
Asked if one could see Sharad Pawar coming back as Maharashtra CM, he said a definite "no".
Asked if it was a 'bargaining game' going on between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, Pawar said, "I think the game between the two is serious."
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has ruled out any support to Shiv Sena for a new power alignment in Maharashtra, according to party sources, negating the latter's leverage over ally BJP. The BJP and the Sena are locked in a bitter dispute over the issue, resulting in a stalemate in government formation despite results of the Assembly polls on October 24 giving the saffron alliance a combined seat strength of 161, way past the 145 majority mark in the 288-member House.
In the polls, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP-54 and Congress-44.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who has been the party's striker against the BJP in the current standoff, met with Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Monday evening in Mumbai, around the same time Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi also held discussions in Delhi.
"We presented our case before the Governor and explained we are not responsible for the confusion. We are not stalling government formation. Whoever has the majority will form a government," Raut told reporters.
There is a need to form a government in Maharashtra at the earliest, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He later met BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav who was in charge of elections in Maharashtra.
Unlike the last assembly elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena this time fought elections in alliance with each other.