Aurangabad:
As the BJP can not form government in Maharashtra on its own, the Congress should think of all options to keep it away from power, former chief minister Ashok Chavan said on Thursday.
As of 9.30 pm, the BJP had won and was leading on 105 seats in the state, its ally Sena on 56 seats, Congress on 44 and Nationalist Congress Party on 54 seats as the counting of votes was coming to an end.
“The number of seats won by BJP and Shiv Sena is comparatively low compared to 2014. BJP cannot form government on its own. There might be new possibilities. The Congress high command should think of these options,” Chavan said.
The halfway mark in the Maharashtra assembly is 144.
Asked if he meant the Congress and NCP should back the Shiv Sena, Chavan said, “This is a policy decision (to be taken). But Congress should think of every possibility to keep the BJP away from government.”
Talking about the Congress’s own performance, he said, “We would have performed better. But we were short on resources. Many of our leaders left and joined other parties. This also hampered us.
