Sena's demands unacceptable, BJP not in favour of mid-term polls: Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday rejected the opposition's criticism of President's rule in Maharashtra as "outright politics" to gain public sympathy, and said Shiv Sena's demands, including sharing the chief minister's post, were "unacceptable" to his party. In his statement and tweets, Shah, also the Union home minister, said he was not in favour of mid-term elections in the state and noted that all parties have six months to stake claim to form government if they manage a majority.
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Amit Shah accuses opposition of doing 'outright politics' over President's rule in Maharashtra
Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the opposition of doing "outright politics" over the Centre's decision to impose President's rule in Maharashtra, and asserted that any party can even now stake claim before the governor to form a new government in the state if it has a majority. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari gave the parties 18 days to stake claim for forming government and then invited them as well but, Shah said in a series of tweets, none of them could prove a majority.
"Even today if any party has a majority, then it may meet the governor to stake claim," Shah, who is also the BJP president, said.
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Congress-NCP meet cancelled
A scheduled joint committee meeting of Congress and NCP leaders to work out details of Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for formation of government in Maharashtra with support of the Shiv Sena was cancelled, a visibly upset Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday night, triggering speculations.
Ajit, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, told reporters present outside the Pawar senior's residence here that he was heading towards Baramati, his Assembly constituency, in Pune district.
"The meeting stands cancelled...I don't know when it will take place," Ajit said even as he refused to answer queries from media persons.
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Anyone can approach Maharashtra Governor if they have majority: Shah
BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the opposition parties, saying their effort to raise a ruckus over the imposition of President's Rule in Maharashtra was 'a meaningless exercise to gain public sympathy' and anyone can still approach the Governor if they have a majority to form the government. Speaking to Smita Prakash, Editor, Asian News International in an exclusive interview, Shah also rejected the accusations that the BJP has betrayed the Shiv Sena.
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NCP-Congress meeting scheduled for today cancelled
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No one objected when we said Fadnavis will be CM if alliance wins: Amit Shah
Breaking his silence on Maharastra logjam, BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that no one objected when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he publicly said that Devendra Fadnavis would be the Chief Minister if the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance wins the Assembly polls in Maharashtra.
"Before elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I said many times in public that if our alliance wins, then Devendra Fadnavis will be the CM. No one objected back then. Now they have come up with new demands which are not acceptable to us," Shah told Smita Prakash, Editor, Asian News International in an exclusive interview here today.
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Kapil Sibal is putting forth childish arguments: Amit Shah
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If anyone has the numbers they can approach the Governor: Amit Shah
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Governor took wrong decisions in a hurry to impose President's Rule in Maharashtra: Congress
The Congress party on Wednesday accused the BJP-led government of using Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari like a puppet, saying he took 'wrong' decisions in a hurry to recommend the President's Rule in the state.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said the President's Rule was 'a joke with democracy' and was an ill deed against the established traditions of the Constitution. He said the Supreme Court guidelines were violated. He said the Governor should have first called BJP-Shiv Sena, the single biggest pre-poll alliance, to form the government and then the Congress-NCP.
After 20 days of an endless parley between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress Party, President's rule has been imposed in Maharashtra. The power struggle in Maharashtra took everyone by surprise when 30-year-old allies BJP and Shiv Sena parted ways. The BJP, which is ruling in the interim, has 105 MLAs and opted out of forming a government when its ally, the Sena, insisted on the Chief Minister's post. The Thackeray-led right-wing party then sought to cobble up support to form a government from arch-rivals NCP and Congress. While the NCP was willing to back the Sena, its ally Congress was sceptical about the vision and sustainability of the proposed alliance.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Congress, the NCP and his party will work out a formula for formation of the government in Maharashtra facing political uncertainty for nearly three weeks now.'
The President's Rule has given an additional six months to the key actors in Maharashtra power play to redraw strategies and rethink allegiances.
With 54 MLAs, the NCP is the third-largest party after the BJP (105) and the Shiv Sena (56). The NCP's ally Congress has 44 winning candidates in the 288-member house where the majority mark is 145.
 "Maharashtra govt formation: Oppn doing 'outright politics', says Shah")
