Bharatiya Janata Party president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah finally spoke up on the political impasse in Maharashtra saying that the Governor had given ample time to all the parties to form the government. Defending the Governor’s move to recommend President’s rule in the Maharashtra on Tuesday, Shah said that the state head had to take action since none of the parties had been able to prove majority since the legislative assembly term ended on November 9.

“Before this, in no state was so much time given, 18 days were given. Governor invited parties only after assembly tenure ended. Neither Shiv Sena nor Congress-NCP staked claim and neither we,” Shah said in an interview to news agency ANI.


The BJP president also said that if any of the parties had the numbers, they could approach the Governor even today.

Maharashtra elections: Live updates

Speaking about the fallout with Shiv Sena, Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and him had always maintained that Devendra Fadnavis would be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. “At that time, they (Shiv Sena) had no objections. And then they came up with new demands which were unacceptable to us.”

BJP emerged as the single largest party when Assembly elections results were declared on October 24, winning 105 seats. The saffron party fought the election in alliance with Shiv Sena, which won 56 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The alliance cleared the 145-seat mark required to form the government. But rifts emerged in the partnership after the results were declared with the Shiv Sena demanding a 50-50 power sharing formula. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has remained firm that his party should be given the CM post for 2.5 years.