A Congress leader on Saturday wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi requesting her that the Shiv Sena be given support to form the next government in Maharashtra if it comes up with such proposal, the missive coming at a time when the Sena and ally BJP are locked in a tussle over forming the next government in the state.

The Sena lost no time in welcoming the stand of Congress leader Hussain Dalwai, a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, for the letter.

Dalwai recalled that the Sena had supported Congress nominees Pratibha Patil and later Pranab Mukherjee for the post of the President of India in the past.

“The Shiv Sena and the BJP are different. The Sena had supported Patil and Mukherjee. The Sena’s politics has become all-inclusive unlike that of the BJP, which is extreme. We must support the Sena to keep the BJP out,” Dalwai said.

He said that a section of Muslims in the state would prefer the Sena over the BJP.

The Congress seems to be divided over supporting the Sena which is one of the founding members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Leaders like AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushilkumar Shinde and Sanjay Nirupam are against extending support to the Sena.

When asked about Dalwai’s letter, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut said: “Dalwai belongs to the socialist ideology. He comes from a family of progressive Muslims. We welcome his stand. But the Sena fought the elections as part of an alliance, and we will adhere to the coalition dharma till the end.”

The recent elections in Maharashtra denied the BJP absolute majority desired by the party.

The BJP failed to perform as many in the party had expected it to though it emerged as the single largest party by winning 105 seats, 17 less than the 2014 tally, in the 288-member House.

The Sena won 56 seats, seven less than its 2014 performance.

The halfway mark is 145 seats.

The Sena and the BJP have since been locked in a battle of nerves over sharing of power.

Both the parties, which were partners in the outgoing government, have not yet started formal discussions even though the tenure of the current Assembly ends on November 8.

The bone of contention is the Sena’s demand for the chief minister’s post for an equal period of two-and-a-half years and 50:50 division of portfolios.

Both these demands have been rejected by the BJP.