India / No proposal to form govt with NCP, Sena or Cong: Maha BJP chief

Mumbai: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday said that no political discussion took place during former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut meeting.

Patil said that Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had met to discuss an interview in Saamna. "I said yesterday that Sanjay Raut had asked Devendra Fadnavis for an interview in Saamna and had also said that they'll sit together once before it to see questions-to rule out anything controversial. No political discussion took place as it was never the purpose," Patil said.

"So, as party's state chief, I'd like to clarify that there is no proposal to form govt with Shiv Sena, NCP or Congress. We are playing the role of an active Opposition. We can't form govt with the three but those three can't stay together," Chandrakant Patil told news agency ANI.

The Maharashtra BJP chief opined that Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP will fight with each other over Farm Bills and other issues and break the alliance. "Be it Farm Bills or any other matter, they (Congress, Shiv Sena, NCP) will fight with each other and break up. Then what will happen next? Mid term election. It is my analysis, it is not necessary that this will happen," Chandrakant Patil added.

Earlier, Patil had said that that there might have been more to the meeting than mere small talk. "If top leaders of two different political parties meet, political discussions do take place. If they sat together for 2-2.5 hours, they didn't discuss tea-biscuits. But it was inconclusive," Patil said.

The former Maharashtra Chief Minister had met his current political adversary, Raut, for an interview for Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana'. Both Raut and Fadnavis had, however, denied that any talks on political issues had taken place during the meeting. Fadnavis had also said that his party "did not have any discussion with the Shiv Sena to form the government."

Long-standing allies Shiv Sena and the BJP had severed ties after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls over sharing the chief ministerial post for two-and-half years on a rotational basis.

The Shiv Sena had then joined hands with ideological rivals NCP and the Congress and formed the present Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with Thackeray as its head in November last year.