NCP supremo Sharad Pawar kept the options open after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the post poll scenario in Maharashtra.

Though he maintained that the onus on the NCP is to work as Opposition, he said one cannot speak about the future. The veteran leader ruled out the possibility of becoming the Chief Minister of the State yet again.

There are indications that the two leaders may meet again soon to discuss the evolving situation in the State. Pawar said that the responsibility of forming the government in Maharashtra is with the BJP and said no one from Shiv Sena’s top leadership has contacted him so far. “The mandate given by the people of Maharashtra to NCP is to sit in the opposition but you cannot speak about future,” he said.

Answering a question, he agreed that “a serious bargaining game” is going between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. “The BJP is responsible for forming the government in Maharashtra as they, along with their ally, have the numbers. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray or anyone else in the Shiv Sena has not sought the NCP support,” Pawar told reporters after the meeting.

Indication from the Congress is that it will not intervene in the power play between the Shiv Sena and the BJP.

Party insiders do not believe that the power play is serious and the Shiv Sena will eventually form the government with the BJP. The party is likely to offer support from outside if its ally NCP decides to form a government with the support of Shiv Sena.

No end, however, is in sightsite in the ongoing struggles between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and the Congress won 44 seats in the elections.

comment COMMENT NOW