Mumbai: Amid the battle of oneupmanship over sharing of power in the next Maharashtra government, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote will be meeting state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari separately here on Monday morning.
Leaders of both the parties, however, claimed they wanted to extend Diwali greetings to the governor, and denied that there would be any political discussion on the formation of the next government in the state.
"This is a festival of lights and Raote will meet Governor Koshyari to extend Diwali greetings on behalf of the Sena. There will be no political discussion," a senior leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
Besides, a close aide of Fadnavis also told a news agency that the chief minister will be meeting the governor to wish him for the Diwali festival.
"Any political discussion is unlikely," he said.
As the BJP's tally went down in the state Assembly elections held last week compared to its 2014 performance, its ally Shiv Sena's chief Uddhav Thackeray raised a pitch for "equal sharing" of power.
Thackeray reminded the BJP of the 50:50 formula "agreed upon" between himself, BJP president Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
On Saturday, he demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing "equal formula for sharing of power" before holding talks on staking the claim to form the next alliance government in the state.
Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah might visit Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on October 30 after attending a meeting of the BJP's newly-elected MLAs to elect the leader of the House in Mumbai, days after the results of the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly elections were declared.
Shah's meeting with Thackeray, if it happens, assumes huge political significance given Sena's demand for equal sharing of power in the next government in view of the senior ally's weakened tally.
In the just-concluded state polls to 288-member Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally.
The Sena's tally also came down to 56 seats from 63 in 2014.
Also read: Locked in power tussle, BJP and Sena try to win over Ind MLAs
