Shiv Sena in 'wait and watch mode' in Maharashtra, attacks ally BJP after it 'threatens' with imposition of President's Rule

Mumbai: Shiv Sena on Saturday launched an attack on its ally BJP with whom it is engaged in a power-sharing tussle over Maharashtra government formation and said it will soon drop its “wait and watch mode” after BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar’s “threat” that President’s Rule may be imposed if a new state government is not in place by 7 November. “If there is a delay in forming the government in a state and a minister from the ruling party has said that President’s rule will be imposed in Maharashtra if the government is not formed, is this a threat to those MLAs who have been elected?” Sanjay Raut said during a press conference. “A minister is repeatedly threatening to impose president’s rule. It is being used to intimidate new MLAs in order to garner their support. If anybody tries to misuse President or Governor’s house like this it is a threat to democracy,” the Sena leader said. “Shiv Sena will soon leave the role of wait and watch,” the Sena leader said. [caption id=“attachment_4493971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. Twitter@rautsanjay61[/caption] “After you failed in all methods, you (BJP) now started threatening to impose the President’s rule. If anybody tries to come to power by threatening to impose President Rule then the people of Maharashtra will not give importance to this threat,” he added. When asked about Congress MP Hussain Dalwai reportedly writing to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi over forming a government with NCP and the Shiv Sena he said: “His letter should be welcomed. There may be differences in our ideology. We have contested the polls in alliance and will follow dharma of alliance.” On his meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, the Shiv Sena leader said: “With the kind of situation prevailing in Maharashtra, all political parties are talking to each other, except the Shiv Sena and BJP.” In the recently concluded Assembly elections in Maharashtra, BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena obtained 56 seats whereas NCP and Congress registered victory on 54 and 44 seats respectively in the 288-member assembly. After the announcement of results, Shiv Sena claimed that there was a 50-50 power-sharing agreement between the two parties before the 2019 parliamentary elections this year but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the ally was not promised the chief minister’s post for two-and-a-half years. The tenure of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly ends on 8 November.