Maha: BJP has support of 119 MLAs, will form government soon, says Chandrakant Patil

The BJP will form a government in Maharashtra soon, the party's state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said on Friday, claiming that it can count on the support of 119 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly. Patil's statement came even as its estranged ally Shiv Sena and rivals Congress and NCP appeared to be inching closer towards finalising an alliance to form a government.

Patil claimed that the BJP, which won 105 seats in the October 21 elections, has the support of some Independents, which takes its tally to 119. Addressing a press conference, he said, "BJP is the single largest party, and with the support of Independents our tally reaches 119. With this tally, BJP will form the government.

"We are keeping a close watch on every political development in the state," he added. The BJP-Sena alliance, which won 161 seats, fell apart over Sena's demand for sharing of the chief minister's post. Speaking about the BJP's performance in the Assembly elections, Patil said it secured 1.42 crore votes, and was in "number one" position, with the NCP second with 92 lakh votes and the Shiv Sena following with 90 lakh votes.

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'Our Performance on all fronts is number one'- Chandrakant Patil

Except for the BJP, no party had been able to win more than 100 seats in Maharashtra since 1990, and his party had done it on a trot in 2014 and 2019, Patil pointed out. "Our performance on all fronts is number one, as we won 105 seats after contesting 164 seats. On 52 seats, we came second," he added.

The BJP also boasts of the highest number of women MLAs (12) along with seven Scheduled Caste and nine Scheduled Tribe legislators, he said.

Speaking about the crop loss in the state due to unseasonal rains, he said, "We have discussed the issue in our meeting and instructed all our MLAs to help farmers in their constituencies to get government aid." He claimed farmers in the state had cumulative insurance cover of Rs 23,000 crore and his party would work towards ensuring farmers get more benefit of this cover. Patil also lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the Supreme Court verdict in the Rafale fighter jet deal case.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected pleas that had sought re-examination of the December 14, 2018 verdict which said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets. The BJP would hold protests across the state against Gandhi, Patil said, adding, "As Rahul Gandhi apologized in the Supreme Court, he should also apologize to the people of the country."

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