The Shiv Sena will take the responsibility of forming the government in Maharashtra if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fails to do, veteran Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut claimed on Sunday. Raut has been in the news for constant attacking the BJP over their refusal to accept the '50-50 formula' that was allegedly decided upon earlier.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP said, "The Governor has invited BJP to form the government, we welcome this step. We have repeatedly said that we want to end instability in the state. In the past 15 days after the assembly election results were announced, the BJP did nothing to end uncertainty in the state. If the party fails to form government in Maharashtra, then Shiv Sena will take responsibility for that."

He also said that there is no such word as a political 'deal' in the Shiv Sena dictionary, adding that the Congress is not the enemy of the State because "all parties have differences on some issues."

The Shiv Sena MP, however, praised the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case.

"Shiv Sena welcomes the verdict. The Ram temple issue does not concern just one party, it is a matter concerning the whole nation. Many Shiv Sainiks had in past made immense contributions to the Ram temple movement," Raut said.

Before the press conference, Raut had also shared a couplet by the popular poet Shabina Adeep on Twitter, in a supposed jab at the BJP.

Earlier in the day, the Shiv Sena, in another firebrand editorial piece in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', had launched an assault on the BJP reminding them that "slavery died along with Hitler" and Maharashtra will not be a 'slave' to the central government at Delhi.

As Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday invited the BJP to form the government, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said it will vote against the saffron party on the floor of the House and will try to form an alternative government in the interest of the state.

The governor invited the BJP as the single-largest party in the state to form the government even as the deadlock with alliance partner Shiv Sena continues, 16 days after the state assembly results were declared on October 24.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP - the two parties that contested the recently-held assembly elections together - have failed to reach an agreement, creating an impasse in the state.

The Shiv Sena's claim of 50-50 government formula, asking for the chief minister's post of two and half years has not been accepted by the BJP.

The BJP won 105 seats and Shiv Sena grabbed 56, together they have the numbers to form the government but both the parties have not been able to break the impasse on sharing the chief minister's post.

If the BJP refuses to form a minority government or fails to prove its majority, the Shiv Sena, the second-largest party, may stake claim to form the government. 

The BJP claims to have the support of 121 members, including independents and leaders from other smaller parties, in the 288-member assembly.

However, Shiv-Sena secured 56 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly, falling way below the half-way mark of 145 and therefore cannot form the government in Maharashtra independently.

The Shiv Sena could form the government if it seeks support from the Congress and NCP which have 44 and 54 seats respectively. However, the chiefs of both parties have so far refused to commit support to the Shiv Sena.