Sanjay Raut retweets Priyanka Gandhi's 'peace hymn' amid BJP-Sena tiff

Amid the looming question of 'Who will form the next government?', Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, on Friday hinted at Sena's willingness to ally with NCP-Congress by retweeting Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's tweet. Raut retweeted a photo of former PM late Indira Gandhi hugging a young Priyanka, quoting a famous peace hymn. Gandhi had tweeted the hymn as a tribute to her grandmother on her death anniversary.

Raut retweets Gandhi's 'peace hymn'

READ | BJP tweets poster hinting 'Get In Line, Shiv Sena' amid Maha tussle

'Maha CM from Sena': Raut

Meanwhile, Raut has repeatedly stated that Maharashtra will have a chief minister from the Shiv Sena, as Sena MLAs have been demanding that Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray be made the Chief Minister. Talking to reporters in Mumbai on Friday, he said there have been no talks yet between the BJP and the Sena on government formation. The Maharashtra chief minister will be from the Shiv Sena, he asserted adding that 'Shiv Sena can get a two-third majority, form stable government'.

READ | Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut calls NCP chief Sharad Pawar 'big leader'

Raut meets Pawar

Earlier on Thursday, Raut met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his Mumbai residence. While he claimed that he had come to wish him (Pawar) on the occasion of Diwali, he added that they had discussed the politics in Maharashtra. Prior to this meeting, senior Congress leaders like former Maharashtra CMs Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, and Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat had met with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, to discuss a possible alliance with the Shiv Sena. The same leaders have met on Friday too, discussing the possible alliance, as Sena too has hinted at its willingness to ally.

WATCH | Sanjay Raut meets Sharad Pawar after Cong-NCP discuss Sena alliance

Recent political BJP-Sena developments

While Shiv Sena has reiterated that it will accept only the 50:50 formula, BJP has denied of ever having agreed to such a formula reportedly offering 13 cabinet portfolios to Sena while keeping 26 for its ministers. Apart from Sena's portfolio demand, the party has demanded a sharing of 2.5 years in the CM post too ; this has been refused by CM Devendra Fadnavis, stating, 'The next govt will be formed under a BJP CM.' With no respite to the deadlock, Sena has been eyeing to gain support of the NCP-Congress alliance, which are currently discussing such a possibility. The BJP too has been gaining Independent MLAs support to fortify its position. Sources had reported that BJP chief Amit Shah is expected to visit soon to take a final call on the government formation.

READ | Sanjay Raut: 'Shiv Sena can get two-third majority, form stable govt'

Poll results in Maharashtra 

The saffron alliance swept Maharashtra on October 24, winning a combined tally of 161 (BJP- 105, Sena -56) to award CM Devendra Fadnavis a second term. But the comeback of the 'Maha- Agadhi' alliance (NCP-Congress) took the Mahayuti by surprise as the NCP bagged 54 seats while the languishing Congress too 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.