Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday evening asked the BJP, the single largest party in the new Assembly, to "indicate the willingness and ability" to form the government, creating hope that the 15-day-long political impasse in the state will end.
The BJP's core committee will meet on Sunday and decide the future course of action, party leader Chandrakant Patil said.
The Shiv Sena, locked in a tussle with ally BJP over sharing of chief minister's post, welcomed Koshyari's decision.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had met the governor at Raj Bhavan earlier in the day, sources said.
The term of the 13th Legislative Assembly of the state will end on Saturday midnight.
"We have just received the letter from the governor," Chandrakant Patil, who is state BJP president, told PTI,
"Our core committee will meet tomorrow and discuss the future course of action," he added.
According to Raj Bhavan statement, the governor asked Devendra Fadnavis, who is the leader of the state BJP's legislature wing, to "indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government".
"Elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were held on October 21 and the results were declared on October 24. However, despite the passage of 15 days, no single party or alliance of parties has come forward to form the government," the statement said.
"The Governor has therefore decided to explore the possibility of formation of Government and today asked the leader of the elected members of the single largest party, that is BJP, to convey its willingness and ability to form the government," it further said.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the governor's decision follows a laid-down procedure and the Sena welcomes it.
"At least the governor has begun the process of exploring for government formation. The BJP is the single largest party and the rightful claimant to form the government first," Raut told PTI.
The BJP won 105 seats in the October 21 elections, while the majority mark in the 288-member Assembly is 145.
Its ally Shiv Sena has won 56 seats, but the two parties are bickering over the chief minister's post.
On Friday, after Fadnavis resigned as Chief Minister and was asked by the governor to continue as caretaker CM, the two allies had a bitter showdown over what had been decided mutually about the chief minister's post during their pre-poll negotiations.
While Fadnavis claimed that the BJP had never promised to share the chief minister's post with its ally, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray maintained that assurance of equal sharing of all posts had been given, and the BJP must not portray him as a liar.
The Shiv Sena has shifted most of its 56 MLAs to a hotel in suburban Malad, apparently to guard them against `poaching' attempts.
As many as 35 of the 44 Congress MLAs are in Jaipur, in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. A party legislator told PTI seeking anonymity that more MLAs are expected to join them.
Both Congress and its ally NCP said the governor should have taken the decision to ask the BJP to indicate its willingness to form government much earlier.
The NCP also said that it would vote against the BJP if there is a floor test. Further, it can think of an "alternative" if the Shiv Sena too voted against the BJP, said its chief spokesperson, Nawab Malik.
According to Anant Kalse, former principal secretary of the Maharashtra Legislature, till the governor does not summon the new (14th) Assembly, it will remain in "suspended animation".Â
