Mumbai, November 12: The third largest electoral group in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has been tasked by the Governor to stake claim for government formation with the requisite numbers by 8:30 pm today. The deadline is unlikely to be met, claim party insiders, as the Congress is yet to clear the stand on whether it will support Shiv Sena. Thackeray Dumps BJP to Stake Claim to Form Government in Maharashtra; Congress Remains Non Committal on Support.

Top party sources, as cited by reports, said the Congress high command is not committed towards supporting Shiv Sena. Without the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, the government cannot be formed as the Congress-NCP combine are 47 seats short of the majority mark.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik, while speaking to reporters last night, said the party is in a clear position to form the alternative government in the state. To stake claim, however, they need the final approval of the Congress leadership which is still contemplating on whether Shiv Sena - an ideological rival - should be supported.

"We are willing to form an alternate government and we had a discussion on this regard in our core committee meeting as well. We are, however, waiting for a decision to be made by our alliance partner Congress," Malik had said.

The NCP was called to form the next government by Governor Bhagat SIngh Koshyari after the first and second largest electoral groups - the BJP and Shiv Sena, respectively - could not stake claim for government formation.

While BJP had opted out on Sunday citing the lack of requisite numbers, Sena had expressed the will to stake claim, but could not produce the letter of support from the Congress and the NCP by he deadline imposed by Governor.

This prompted the Raj Bhavan to issue an invite to the Sharad Pawar-led party. NCP's legislative leader Ajit Pawar was called to the Governor's Office last night and officially conveyed that his party is being given a  24-hour time frame to stake claim for government formation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 12, 2019 09:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).