Mallikarjun Kharge: People gave Cong mandate to sit in opposition

As the wait for a new government in Maharashtra entered the second week after the announcement of election results, Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday informed that Congress has not discussed the issue since according to the mandate given by the people, the party should sit in the opposition. Kharge, who is currently the party in-charge of Maharashtra, said that the party will raise issues concerning the people. "I would like to make it clear that we have not held discussions with anybody to form the government in Maharashtra. People have given us the mandate to sit in opposition," Kharge said while interacting with a news agency.

"We will work to highlight the problems facing the public, like farmer issues, flood relief, education and so on," he added while taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  Adding further he said, "They had asked for votes in the name of the alliance and now when they have got a mandate, they are fighting for power. BJP can do anything to get power. They did the same in Karnataka."

Calling the ideology on which the Congress and BJP fought the elections to be different, he also said that it was the duty of the ruling alliance to form the government. "They (BJP-Shiv Sena) fought on a different ideology and we on a different ideology. We will work for those who accepted our ideology and raise their issues. But now BJP-Shiv Sena has to form the government and serve the people," Kharge was quoted as saying.

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Ramdas Athavle's appeal to Shiv Sena

On Thursday, RPI chief Ramdas Athavle made an appeal to the Shiv Sena to join the coalition. "I appeal Shiv Sena to join the coalition informing the government. I appeal to Shiv Sena and Sanjay Raut to play the role of joining the alliance,  not breaking the alliance. They must consider a compromise," he said.

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Maharashtra poll result

When the poll result was announced on October 24, the saffron alliance swept Maharashtra, winning a combined tally of 161 (BJP- 105, Sena -56). The 'Maha-Agadhi' alliance (NCP-Congress) also made a comeback with the NCP bagging 54 seats while the languishing Congress bagged 44 seats. Though the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will form the next government, it was handed a diminished mandate compared to 2014 where it won 185 seats.

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