Maharashtra political tussle: SC to give its verdict on Sena-NCP-Congress plea today

The twist to the Maharashtra politics came on early Saturday morning when NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew and party leader Ajit handed over a letter to the Governor supporting the BJP.

Meanwhile, in a bid to come to power, top leaders and MLAs of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress displayed a show of strength at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on Monday evening.

This comes hours after the three parties staked claim to power.

The MLAs also took an oath that under no circumstances they would help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prove their majority in the Maharashtra Assembly.

"I swear that under the leadership of Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray & Sonia Gandhi, I will be honest to my party. I won't get lured by anything. I will not do anything which will benefit BJP," the MLAs pledged during the show of strength.

Potraying their strength, the Congress tweeted: "We will not be defeated by fear & intimidation, by corrupt practices & illegal actions. We are not driven by lust for power & greed. We are united, we are strong #WeAre162." 

How the political crisis started?

After the election results were declared on Oct 24, the Sena demanded 50:50 power share in the government and rotational Chief Ministership from the BJP which didn't entertain right from the first day.

Eventually, the Sena fell out with its oldest ally slowly moving towards the NCP and Congress.

After the BJP, which has won 105 seats, refused to stake claim to form the government, Governor Koshyari had asked the Sena to do so. However, the Sena, which has just 56 seats, failed to cobble up the number following which NCP, the third largest party, was asked to stake claim.

However even before the allotted time expired, the Governor on Nov 12 asked the Centre to impose the Presidential rule drawing much criticism from the Opposition.