Wading into the battle, the Congress accused the BJP of being “morally corrupt”. “Shivsena is an alliance partner of @BJP4India and part of #Mahayuti… If it feels scared that #BJP will poach their MLAs, then we can very well understand how much #BJP is morally corrupt and why we must save Maharashtra from them. Does #Mahayuti hv moral rights to form govt now?” asked leader Sachin Sawant.

Sena’s allegations come on a day when the BJP is scheduled to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari “with a message approved by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis”, senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said.

However, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose party has refused to give up its claim on the post of the rotational chief minister, said his party chief Uddhav Thackeray is yet to get any proposal from the BJP.

The BJP and the Sena are locked in a standoff over the post of chief minister in new government and sharing of ministerial portfolios.

In the recent Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 105 seats in the 288-member House. The Sena won 56.

Claiming that the BJP had agreed to a “50-50” formula on power-sharing in the state, the Sena has demanded that the top seat be shared between the two.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the mandate for his party and its ally Congress is to sit in the opposition. It is for the BJP-Sena to form the government, he added.

Pawar asked the haggling allies to form the government at the earliest, asserting his party and the Congress will work as a “responsible opposition”.

Addressing a press conference here after meeting Raut, Pawar ruled out joining the Sena in government with the outside support of the Congress, an idea doing the rounds in political circles for the last few days.

“Where is the question (of a non-BJP government)?” he asked, saying the BJP and the Sena have been in alliance for 25 years, and they “will come together sooner or later”.

“If we had the numbers, we wouldn’t have waited for anyone. The Congress and the NCP didn’t cross the 100 marks. We will work as a responsible opposition,” he said.