Omkar Dattatray
The government formation has not been a smooth affair in Maharashtra due to the hung verdicts during last some decades. This time as well there is same hung mandate and no political party national or regional has been in a position to muster the magic number of 145 to stake claim to form government in Maharashtra even after lapse of fifteen days of the declaration of the result of assembly elections. All the eyes are set on the BJP and Shiv Sena for the government formation as both the parties together have the required number to form the government. But the two parties are locked in a deadlock due to the stiff attitude and ego of these parties .There is the stalemate between the BJP and SS so for as the government formation is concerned. There is standoff between BJP and Shiv Sena so for as the sharing the sharing of seats is concerned. BJP is the largest party and SS follows it and the two parties are in a position to cobble a strong and stable coalition government in the state which is the financial hub of the nation. There is political stalemate in the state and as a result government formation is delayed .Both the parties are rigid and have their own stand as for as cobbling of the coalition in the state is concerned. SS is adamant on having a chief minister from their party and the BJP also wants the coveted post of chief minister. There is no relenting in both the parties on this issue. While the BJP is of the opinion that being the largest party it has the claim for the post of chief minister and it is a right claim given the political arithmetic of BJP and BJP is ready for 50-50 term but does not want to bargain the post of chief minister in the first term. SS is of the view that the agreed promise before elections between the BJP and SS should be adhered to for government formation. The stalemate is such that now the drama of cobbling a coalition in the state has come to the national capital as Fadnavis the CM of Maharashtra has a meeting with the home minister Amit Shah and a new formula is being framed for the alliance to form a coalition. The rivalry and stiffness is so intense between the two contenders to power that BJPs leader and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar claimed that if government is not formed by 7th November the president's rule will be imposed in the state. SS's mouthpiece Samanna has objected to this statement of the BJP leader and wrote in the editorial entitled Maharashtra's insult, is president in your pocket? BJP'S threat of president's rule is unconstitutional and undemocratic and the president's rule is this case will amount to disrespect to the peoples mandate. In the circumstances it is the BJP's right to form government being the single largest party. BJP-SS alliance is the natural one and has the first claim to form the coalition government while the other parties do not have the required number. But it is sad state of affairs that the two parties are involved in a tussle for the post of chief minister and government formation is the first casualty. BJP-SS should bury their differences and come down from their egos and stated positions and forge a viable and strong alliance to form government. Politics is the art of possibilities and nothing is impossible in it and SS can go to any extent and form a government with NCP and congress and for this possibility SS's leader Sanjay Raut had talks with Ajit Pawar of NCP and NCP's supremo Sharad Pawar had talked to congress president Sonia Gandhi over supporting SS in Maharashtra to stitch an alliance for government formation. The political stalemate continues on seat sharing and the war of words is also on and there seems no respite from this .There is old friendship and alliance between the two parties and now it seems that friendship runs in rough weather and this is disturbing. Besides regional parties of late have become a bargaining force and they have a role in the government formation.BJP should take this into consideration while bargaining with its old alliance partner and thus shun its rigid attitude and pave way for coalition government formation in the state. Nothing should be done which will undermine the value and prestige of the political parties and the electorate but both the parties should make sincere efforts towards government formation. No further delay should be made in this regard. Though BJP proposed a 50-50 formula but it is a doomed one as it does not work. The alliance if it becomes a truth cannot be called a marriage of convenience but is the alliance of the somewhat likeminded parties unlike the past alliance of BJP and PDP in Kashmir politics which late Mufti Mohammad Syed called an alliance of the north pole and south pole. The alliance of BJP and SS will be a natural, old and ideological one and will prove stable and strong if it is concretized in the form of a coalition. Let us hope that a government will be in place very soon and all differences will be buried in the interest of the Maharashtrains. Are BJP and SS hearing?
(The Writer is a Retired Education Officer and Columnist)
