Fadnavis to call on BJP chief Amit Shah as Maha-deadlock continues

Amid an impasse on government formation in Maharashtra due to a tussle between allies BJP and Shiv Sena and unseasonal rains destroying crops, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will head to Delhi on Monday to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJP won 105 seats in the Assembly polls, results of which were declared on October 24, while the Sena got 56. However, the two parties, which fought the polls in an alliance, have got caught in a stalemate over the chief minister's post, with the Sena demanding an equal division of the top post's tenure and the BJP rejecting it.

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Sources, however, said the meeting with Shah will be to discuss aid from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to farmers affected by unseasonal rains across the state. While the state government announced a Rs 10,000 crore package for affected farmers, ally Sena, as well as opposition Congress and NCP, called it inadequate considering the several lakh hectares of crops that have been damaged.

The state government had earlier put the crop area damaged at 54.22 lakh hectares. Incidentally, earlier in the day, the Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had raised the "mysterious silence" of Shah, who heads the BJP, on the deadlock over the formation of the government.

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Earlier on Sunday, while addressing a press conference, CM Fadnavis expressed concern over the prolonged stalemate between the Shiv Sena and BJP over the formation of the Maharashtra Government. He said, " I feel that the stalemate over government formation will be sorted soon and everyone as to work for the interest of Maharashtra. At present, there is a grave crisis on the farmers of Maharashtra and at this point of crisis, the new government should be formed as early as possible because a caretaker government has some limitations in taking decisions. The government is taking all possible decisions and looking at the interest of the states, the new government shall be formed and I am hopeful of that."

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(With PTI Inputs)