Maharashtra: After bitter parting with BJP, Shiv Sena turned away by NCP, Cong and governor

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena, which broke its ties with pre-poll ally BJP in the belief that it would form a government in the state with NCP and Congress support, found the wind gone out of its sails on Monday night.
Shiv Sena, which was embroiled in a bitter leadership battle with its ally of 35 years, was invited by governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday to form the government and given till 7.30 pm on Monday to stake its claim.
Since Monday morning, a hectic session of political meetings began in the city as well as Delhi.
With the clock ticking away for the Shiv Sena, the day started with a meeting of all the MLA-elects hidden away in a luxury resort on Madh Island.
After they signed the letter of support, the action shifted to Matoshree, the residence of Uddhav Thackeray, where a meeting of all key functionaries was held.
After the meeting, Uddhav and his MLA-elect son, Aaditya, left for Taj Land's End, where they met NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Sources said that in the meeting the Shiv Sena may have given a formal proposal seeking NCP support to form the government.
Uddhav also spoke to Sonia Gandhi after the first Congress working committee meeting ended in Delhi. The Congress was not in favour of an alliance with the Shiv Sena in the state. Senior politicians like Sushilkumar Shinde and even Prithviraj Chavan were against an alliance with the Shiv Sena.
"Looks like the Shiv Sena has read everything wrong," a politician from the NCP said. "They thought it would be easy to convince the Congress to come along as they were battling an existential crisis in the state, but the Congress is in no rush to be in power again, especially not with Sena."
A Shiv Sena politician said lack of behind-the-curtains planning and overconfidence did the party in. The Shiv Sena largely reduced its negotiating power by not ensuring that it had the numbers in place before staking claim to form the government.
A political analyst said that the Shiv Sena leadership, without approaching the NCP and the Congress, had taken for granted their support would be available within 24 hours, which showed the political immaturity of the party.
"If Sena wanted to ally with NCP-Cong, Uddhav should have started talks a few days ago with the NCP and Congress leadership on their common issues and share in power before meeting the governor," the analyst said.
A politician said the morale of the MLA-elects had been affected.
"Till yesterday the Sena MLAs who were feeling that Uddhav Thackeray would lead the way to the CM's chair now feel that their chance is over," the politician said.
Its negotiating power almost over, Shiv Sena MLA-elects are not sur if the t should support the NCP or go back and approach the BJP to form the government in the state, said party sources.
The Shiv Sena plans to hold a meeting of senior politicians at Matoshree on Tuesday to decide its next step.