'Governor can ask single largest party to form govt'

The onus is on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to act if no party stakes claim to form the new government in Maharashtra, a legislature expert said here on Thursday, two days before the present Assembly's term ends.

If no party comes forward, the governor can invite the single largest party to form the government, said Anant Kalse, former secrertary of the state legislature.

"If that party shows its inability to form the new government, then the governor will invite the second largest party to form the government," Kalse said.

"The governor will have to carry out these modalities," Kalse told a Marathi TV channel.

The decision to hold the first session of the new Assembly is taken in the first cabinet meeting of the new government, he said. Holding the session is the cabinet's responsibility, he added.

"The Assembly poll results have been notified by the Election Commission. The new Assembly will come into existence as per Constitutional provisions," he said.

"Till the new CM is sworn in, the session of the new Assembly can't be convened," Kalse said.

After the new government proposes, the governor calls the session of the new Assembly in which all the new MLAs are sworn in, he said.

"There is no provision of a caretaker government as per the Constitution but there have been such incidents even at the Centre," he said.

"The tenure of a caretaker government is a grey area but the new government will have to be formed soon," he said.

Former Maharashtra Advocate General Shrihari Aney said, it is a "very long time" before one can think of imposing President's rule in the state.

"There are many options and actions to be taken before reaching such a decision," Aney said.

"There is no provision in law that the new government will have to be formed by November 9, after the tenure of the present Assembly ends," Aney said.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena are engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over the latter's demand for equal distribution of portfolios and sharing the chief minister's post.

The BJP has rejected Sena's demand for sharing the chief minister's post for two-and-a-half-years each.