Mumbai, October 28: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena on Monday decided to meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari separately at the Raj Bhawan to discuss the government formation in the state. The meeting by the two political parties -- who have emerged as the top two winners in the assembly elections -- comes amid hectic post poll negotiations between them. Maharashtra Government Formation: BJP, Shiv Sena in Race to Increase Bargaining Power by Winning Over Independents, Small Parties.

Senior Sena leader and Transport Minister in the outgoing government, Diwakar Raote, had reached the Raj Bhawan. From the BJP, a delegation led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met the Governor at his office after the Raote had left.

The Shiv Sena has been playing the hardball ever since the results reduced the BJP's electoral strength in Maharashtra. From 122 seats the party currently held, its tally dipped to 105. The Sena was also discounted by six MLAs, as it could win only 57 seats in the elections.

Since the BJP is now 40 seats short of the halfway majority mark, the Sena said it should be inducted as an equal partner in the coalition regime. The "50:50 formula", as stressed by Sena supremo  Uddhav Thackeray, is unacceptable to the BJP which has won nearly double the seats.

Senior BJP leader and Finance Minister in the outgoing government, Sudhir Mungantiwar, while speaking to reporters, said there is no question of sharing the chief ministerial post for two-and-a-half-year each. "We have won more seats than Shiv Sena. Devendra Fadnavis will be the Chief Minister, undoubtedly," he said.

The last Chief Minister from Sena - Manohar Joshi - was appointed in 1995, when the party had won 73 seats and the BJP had secured victory in 65 constituencies. Since then, the two parties had maintained a pact that whoever wins the more seats among them will hold on to the chief ministerial post.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 28, 2019 11:16 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).