NCP meets Maha Guv and confirms invite; not confident over deadline

Soon after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari declined Shiv Sena's request for extra time, the Governor now has invited the third-largest party in the state, the Nationalist Congress party to form government. The Governor had earlier summoned NCP leaders at Raj Bhavan and an NCP delegation comprising of Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayantrao Patil, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil and Ajit Pawar met the Governor. After their meeting with the Governor, Jayantrao Patil confirmed that he has invited NCP to form government and the Governor has given them a deadline of 8:30 pm on November 12. Congress President Sonia Gandhi has called for an emergency meeting with the party leaders on Tuesday at 10 am.

Senior NCP leader Jayantrao Patil while speaking to the media after the meeting with Governor said, "As per the procedure, the Governor has given us a letter being the third-largest party. Therefore, we have suggested to him that we will have to talk to our alliance party and we have assured him that we will get back to him as early as possible. Time given to us is up to tomorrow 8:30 pm but we will have to consult and discuss with our alliance party."

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Governor's letter to NCP

Governor rejected Shiv Sena's request

Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray in a press briefing said, "We have requested more time from the Governor, which he has declined. Our claim has not been rejected. Both parties have been speaking to us. As the second-largest party, it was our right to come here. We want a stable govt in Maharashtra. We are willing to form the government and asked for an extension of 48 hrs to fulfil all procedures." The Shiv Sena came to be invited after the BJP declined to form a government in the state, following its fallout with the Shiv Sena over who would be the state's Chief Minister.

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Power struggle in the state

The results of the Maharashtra elections declared on October 24 threw up a surprise with the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance not faring as well as expected. The tally of the BJP came down to 105, from 122 seats which they had won in the 2014 election. Shiv Sena too won from only 56 constituencies. On the other hand, the NCP and Cong won 54 and 44 seats respectively. Though the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had a comfortable majority, a tussle broke out over the CM’s post, following which the BJP declined to form a government.

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