Maharashtra govt formation: Uddhav holds meeting with Shiv Sena legislators

As the government formation process picked momentum in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday met his party's legislators to discuss the political situation in the state.

Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav told PTI that the meeting was convened to apprise the legislators of the government formation process and meetings of Congress-NCP leaders in Delhi.

Thackeray met NCP president Sharad Pawar in Mumbai last night.

Jadhav said whatever decision Thackeray takes will be binding on all legislators of Shiv Sena. "We would like Uddhavji or Aaditya Thackeray to be the CM," he added.

Results of the October 21 Assembly polls were declared on October 24 and President's rule was imposed in the state on November 12 after no party or combine staked claim to form the new government.

The state was plunged into a political crisis after the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.

The BJP and Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats, respectively.

For the better part of this week, Delhi was the centre of marathon meetings between top leaders of the NCP and Congress to explore the possibility of forging an alliance with the Shiv Sena, a party whose ideology is poles apart from the duo.