Sanjay Raut meets Pawar amid logjam over govt formation in Maha

Amid the stand-off over government formation in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"This was a courtesy call," Raut told reporters later. The BJP and the Shiv Sena are locked in a bitter a tussle over sharing of the chief minister's post and ministerial portfolios in the new government in the state.

There has been no headway in government formation after results of the state Assembly polls were declared on October 24 in which the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP- 54 and Congress-44.

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'Political alternative can be worked out'- NCP

Raut, who is a Rajya Sabha member, earlier said his party was firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power-sharing, including rotation of the chief minister's post for two-and-a-half years.

He also claimed that there was a "consensus" between the BJP and the Shiv before the Maharashtra Assembly polls on sharing the chief minister's post. The NCP on Tuesday said a political alternative can be worked out in the state if the Shiv Sena declared that it had snapped ties with the BJP.

Sources in the NCP said their party wants Arvind Sawant, the lone Shiv Sena minister in the Union government, to resign before going ahead further with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

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