Cricketer-turned-politician and Lok Sabha MP Gautam Gambhir on Monday slammed Shiv Sena for walking out of the alliance with BJP and said that they can't have the Chief Minister post in Maharashtra by winning only 56 seats.

"It is unfair for people of Maharashtra have given the mandate to NDA alliance as what Shiv Sena is doing you can't have a CM with 56 seats. Probably, they will now have to take support from its biggest critics. If they end up doing that, this is going to be the last nail in the coffin of Shiv Sena," he told ANI.

"Hopefully, BJP will emerge even stronger in Maharashtra. Fadnavis has done a fabulous job in the last five years and the BJP emerged as the single largest party. Now, they (Shiv Sena) is trying to achieve power by hook or crook," Gambhir added.

The NDA alliance received a majority in Maharashtra after the BJP won 105 and Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats out of 124 seats they had contested.

After BJP failed to form the government, Shiv Sena was asked by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari to express its ability for government formation.

There is speculation that NCP and Congress may support Shiv Sena to form the government in Maharashtra.

Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also talked about a Common Minimum Programme among three parties to form the government,

Meanwhile, Congress has also called a meeting of party leaders from Maharashtra to discuss the political situation.

NCP has 54 MLAs while its alliance partner Congress has 44. If Shiv Sena, which had 56 legislators, gets the support of NCP and Congress, it will easily cross the majority mark of 145 in 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

-ANI

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