MUMBAI: Leaders of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress on Monday submitted a letter to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, claiming they have the required numbers to form government in the state.
The letter was signed by Eknath Shinde, Jayant Patil and Balasaheb Thorat, the legislature party leaders of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, respectively.
The 'Maha Vikas Aghadi', the post-poll alliance formed by the three parties, claimed it has the majority whereas the recently sworn in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis "does not have the required numbers".
"Once Fadnavis fails to prove his majority during the floor test, the Shiv Sena's claim for government formation should be considered," the parties said in the letter.
"We have attached the list of NCP and Congress MLAs supporting Sena's claim along with other smaller parties and Independents who have extended their support. We should be called to form government immediately," they said.
After submitting the letter, NCP's state chief Jayant Patil said, "The three parties - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress - and smaller allies are willing to parade all 162 MLAs who have supported the Sena's claim to form government in Maharashtra."
"If the governor permits, we will bring all the 162 MLAs before him," he told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan where Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde and Congress state chief Balasaheb Thorat were also present.
Patil said they have the signatures of "51 out of total 54 NCP MLAs".
"Ajit Pawar, Anna Bansode and Dharmaraobaba Atram have not signed the letter. Bansode is in Pune while Atram had gone to Gurugram along with other NCP MLAs but he informed us that he is with the party's decision," he said.
On the NCP's efforts to convince Ajit Pawar to come back to the party fold, Patil said, "I will make my last attempt to convince Ajit Pawar today."
BJP's Devendra Fadnavis and NCP leader Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively by Koshyari at 8 am on Saturday at a hush hush ceremony in Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in the state.
The BJP was propped up by NCP's Ajit Pawar who revolted against his party headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar.
In the 288-member state Assembly, BJP is the single largest party with 105 MLAs, followed by Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress party having 56, 54 and 44 members respectively.
The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.