The Maharashtra governor on Saturday invited the Shiv Sena to stake claim to form the government after the BJP backed out, informing him that it did not have the numbers.

“The mandate of the people was for the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. We cannot form the government on our own,” state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil told journalists after meeting governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari in the evening.

The governor had on Saturday invited the BJP, the single largest party in the 288-member Assembly with 105 seats, to form the government.

On October 24, after the results of the Maharashtra and Haryana elections were declared, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said: “These are big victories because normally these days few governments return after five years. In such times, to be elected again is no mean achievement.”

In Haryana, where too the BJP fell short of majority, it has formed the government in alliance with Dushyant Chautala but two weeks later the ministry is still to be constituted.

On Sunday, Patil said: “If the Shiv Sena wants to insult the mandate of the people and form a government with the support of the NCP and the Congress, we wish them all the best.”

The Sena and the BJP fought the Assembly elections as allies, but have broken up over power-sharing demands.

A Raj Bhavan source told PTI that the governor had invited the Sena to convey by 7.30pm on Monday its “willingness” and “ability” to form the government.

The spotlight has now swivelled to the NCP-Congress.

The Sena has 56 MLAs, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44. The halfway mark is 145. If the NCP-Congress combine backs the Sena, such an axis would have 154 MLAs.

“Let the Sena first withdraw its minister at the Centre, snap its alliance with the BJP and then make a proposal to us seeking support; we’ll consider,” NCP leader Nawab Malik told reporters in Mumbai.

Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan said: “We are in Jaipur. We will discuss the issue here and seek advice about our future political stand. The party doesn’t want President’s rule in the state.”

Earlier in the day, Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut had said the party would claim the chief minister’s post. Raut appeared to be warming up to the Congress, saying: “The Congress is not an enemy.”

BJP sources in Delhi said that apart from the lack of numbers, the party had backed out as part of a strategy.

“Let the Sena go with the Congress-NCP and they will be finished forever. They will not be able to provide a stable government and the BJP will bounce back with a bigger mandate,” a BJP leader said.