Mumbai: Nationalist Party Congress (NCP) Sharad Pawar has finally ‘outwitted’ the ‘so-called Chanakya of the Indian politics’, the party said Friday, as it inches closer to forming a government with Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra.
The NCP’s chief spokesperson Nawab Malik also reiterated that the throne of Delhi could not make Maharashtra bow before it.
“@PawarSpeaks Sahab has finally outwitted the so-called Chanakya of Indian politics. The throne of Delhi could not make Maharashtra bow down before it. Jai Maharashtra,” Malik tweeted, without naming anyone.
It is believed that Malik’s jibe is directed at Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah, who is often credited for being instrumental in the BJP’s victories in several polls and government formations in the country.
The BJP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had contested the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls jointly and won 105 and 56 seats respectively.
However, the saffron partners fell out after the Sena persisted with its demand for sharing the chief minister’s post on rotational basis.
Now in a bid to form a government, the Shiv Sena is in talks with the NCP and Congress, who have won 54 and 44 seats respectively in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.
In another development senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha memberSanjay Raut stated that his party won’t side with the BJP even if offered Lord Indra’s throne.
Talking to reporters, Raut reiterated that his party will get the Maharashtra chief minister’s post when the three-party alliance with Congress and NCP assumes power.
“The time for offers has ended,” Raut said, when asked about reports that the BJP had agreed to share the CM’s post with the Sena.
“People of Maharashtra want Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister,” asserted Raut.
Asked if the three non-BJP parties would meet the Maharashtra governor Friday, Raut quipped, “Why meet the governor when the President’s rule is in place.
PTI