BJP to adopt 'wait and watch' policy after withdrawing from race in Maharashtra 

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said that it would "wait and watch" amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra informing the government.

Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar spoke to reporters after the party's core group meeting on Monday to discuss the political situation.

"The BJP core team meeting has concluded. The political situation in the state was discussed in the meeting. On its basis, BJP is taking the stand of `wait and watch`," said Mungantiwar in Mumbai on Monday.

Meanwhile, senior leaders of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress will go into a huddle exploring the possibility of forming a non-BJP government in the state with the Shiv Sena.

"NCP and Congress will have a meeting on November 12 to decide about Shiv Sena, many senior leaders from both the parties will be present in tomorrow`s meeting," said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Monday.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday asked Pawar to indicate willingness and ability of NCP to form the government in Maharashtra. 

This after Shiv Sena, which is keen to have its chief minister in the state, was not granted additional time by the Governor to submit letters of support from the NCP and the Congress. 

The Governor, instead, called the NCP, which finished third in the assembly polls, and asked it to indicate its willingness to form the government in the state.

The Shiv Sena insisted on rotational chief minister post, a demand which was rejected by BJP which said there was no such agreement between the two parties ahead of the polls. 

Shiv Sena emerged as the second-largest party in the polls and got 56 seats.

Both the NCP and the Congress held meetings in the morning over the developments as the Shiv Sena expressed its desire to form a non-BJP government.

The NCP made it clear that it will not decide until ally Congress spells out its stance. 

The NCP has 54 MLAs in the assembly while the Congress has 44.

On the other hand, the Congress Working Committee discussed the developments in Maharashtra and decided to have a meeting with its leaders from Maharashtra before taking a decision. However, at the end of deliberations, the party issued a statement which talked of further consultations with the NCP and made no mention of the Shiv Sena.
 

(With inputs from ANI)