Sena Exits Government; NCP, Congress Meetings On Maharashtra: 10 Points

Here's your ten-point cheatsheet on this big story:

• "Shiv Sena's side is the truth. Why stay in the government in Delhi in such a false environment? That is why I am resigning as Union Minister," Arvind Sawant tweeted, declaring that he would soon address the media on his decision. Mr Sawant is Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
• The Shiv Sena was on Sunday invited by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to indicate "willingness and ability" to form government in the state after the BJP said it would not stake claim to power. It needs the support of Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to do so.
  
  
  
  
• The NCP had asked the Sena to quit the NDA for any such possibility to come in play. The party has reportedly called a meeting of its MLAs today after the rapid developments since Sunday.
• Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is expected to reach out to Sharad Pawar today. Uddhav Thackeray is tipped to be Chief Minister, with an NCP deputy, in a formula that has been in circulation over the weekend.
• "If the Shiv Sena wants to insult the mandate of the people and form government with the support of the NCP and Congress, they have our best wishes," the BJP said yesterday after informing the Governor that it would not stake claim to power "The mandate of the people was for the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. We cannot form the government on our own," Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said after meeting the Governor.
• The Sena called a late night meeting of the top leaders to discuss the governor's invite Sena's Sanjay Raut said the state will have a Sena Chief Minister "at any cost". Without spelling anything out, the NCP said it would "support a stable government".
• "If the Sena wants the support of the Congress and NCP they must first announce that they are ending ties with the BJP and they are out of the NDA. Their ministers need to quit the council of ministers," NCP's Nawab Malik said on Monday, adding that there was no proposal from the Sena so far.
• In an editorial in Saamana, the party mouthpiece, the Sena last week said: "With 54 MLAs of NCP, 44 Cong MLAs and few independents, we can reach majority. The Sena can present its own Chief Minister and for that, three parties with independent ideology should form policies which are acceptable to all" But after a meeting with Sharad Pawar, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi ruled out the possibility of aligning with the Shiv Sena. Congress leaders of Maharashtra are likely to make another attempt at persuading their leadership to agree to support the Sena.
• The Congress Working Committee, the party's top decision-making body, is meeting to discuss whether the party will back a Sena-NCP government and if so, if it should provide outside support.
• Caretaker Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned on Friday. On Saturday, as the term of the Maharashtra legislative assembly ended without any resolution, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari invited the BJP to form government. The BJP and the Sena, long-term allies for more than 25 years, won a majority together in last month's Maharashtra elections. The BJP won 105 seats and the Sena 56, which placed them comfortably ahead of the majority mark of 145 in the 288-member assembly, However, the Sena refused to form government with the BJP without an agreement, in writing, that it would have the chief minister's post for half the term and an equal share in ministries, in what it called a "50:50" deal discussed with BJP chief Amit Shah. As Devendra Fadnavis denied any such deal, the Sena's attacks on the BJP became more and more vitriolic.