NEWS
ANALYSIS
SPECIALS
INTERVIEW
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
CONSTITUENCY
ISSUES
GALLERY
MANIFESTOS
INDIA SPEAKS!
COUNTDOWN
CHAT
PREVIOUS RESULTS
SCHEDULE
DISCUSSION GROUP

Governor gives Sena-BJP and Congress time till tomorrow

The exercise of government formation in Maharashtra today gained momentum after Governor P C Alexander asked both the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine and the Congress to submit their respective lists of MLAs by tomorrow.

The governor today met senior leaders of both the parties separately at Raj Bhavan. While the Sena-BJP combine was represented by Chief Minister Narayan Rane and his deputy Gopinath Munde, the Congress sent its state unit chief Prataprao Bhosale and Congress Legislature Party leader Vilasrao Deshmukh and senior leader Suresh Kalmadi.

While the Congress had staked its claim to form the government a few days back, this was the first time that the alliance leaders were meeting the governor after the elections.

Rane and Munde, who were the first to reach Raj Bhavan early in the morning, assured the governor that they had the support of 145 MLAs - the half-way mark in the 288-member assembly - though they were not yet ready with the final list.

And while the Congress did submit a list to the governor, it was only of 75 party MLAs. The party sought some time to hand over the final list.

The governor, who spoke to the press briefly after the two meetings, said he had given the Sena-BJP time till 11.30 am tomorrow and the Congress till 1 pm to submit their lists. He added that if he found any common names in the two lists he would summon the respective legislators and also their party leaders for clarification.

When asked what happens if both the parties fail to muster the requisite numbers he said: ''I have been assured by both the parties that they have the numbers...we will have to wait till tomorrow.''

To a question whether he would prefer a pre-poll alliance over a post-poll combination, he said he would decide it tomorrow. ''I hope that the assembly is not kept in a state of suspended animation. If that happens I'll have to explore others options,'' he added.

If the new assembly is not put in place before October 22, the governor will be constrained to impose President's Rule in the state. However, the governor has time only till October 18 as the procedure of imposition of President's Rule takes about three days.

Emerging out of his meeting with the governor, Bhosale told waiting newsmen that all the differences between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have been sorted out. ''I have sent them an offer letter,'' he said, and added that the two parties would address a joint press conference soon.

Tell us what you think of this report