Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in Mumbai on Monday morning, amid the ongoing tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena over sharing of power in the next state government.
A Raj Bhawan official told PTI that it was a 'courtesy call'.
Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote also met the governor on Monday.
Earlier, both the parties claimed they wanted to extend Diwali greetings to the governor, and denied that there would be any political discussion on the formation of next government in the state.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the Governor, Raote said that his meeting at Raj Bhavan was not related to any political issue.
The statement comes after speculations were on rife that Raote might have discussed Maharashtra government formation matter with the Governor during his visit.
The Shiv Sena leader said, "Since a very long time, I visit Raj Bhawan to meet the Governor on every Diwali to extend my wishes so I came here to give him Diwali wishes today."
"He had asked me to come at 10:30 am as he is scheduled to go out for work later today. We did not hold a discussion regarding any political issue," Raote said.
As the BJP's tally went down in the state assembly elections held last week compared to its 2014 performance, its ally Shiv Sena raised a pitch for "equal sharing" of power.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray reminded the BJP of the 50:50 formula 'agreed upon' between himself, BJP president Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
On Saturday, he demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing 'equal formula for sharing of power' before holding talks on staking the claim to form the next alliance government in the state.
In the just concluded state polls to 288-member assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally.
The Sena's tally also came down to 56 seats from 63 in 2014.
Why is there so much 'silence'? asks Sena on economic slowdown
The Shiv Sena on Monday borrowed an iconic dialogue from Hindi blockbuster movie Sholay to target the Centre over the economic slowdown, seeking to know why there was so much 'silence' in markets on the occasion of Diwali and wondered if worse days were ahead.
'...Itna sannata kyon hai bhai?' (why is there so much silence) is the question resonating everywhere on 'silence' over the future of the country and Maharashtra, the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana.
In the film Sholay, the dialogue was mouthed by veteran actor late A K Hangal in an emotional scene where silent villagers look on while a horse carries the body of his son killed by dacoit Gabbar Singh, portrayed by Amjad Khan.
The Sena used the famous dialogue to raise questions over what it termed as the 'gloomy' picture of the economy, and blamed the government's decisions of demonetisation and 'faulty implementation' of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the present situation in the country.
"Markets have lost shine as sales figures have dropped by 30 to 40 per cent due to the looming fear of slowdown. Industries are suffering while some manufacturing units have closed down, leading to joblessness," it said.
Several banks are facing financial crisis and people have no money to spend, the Marathi publication said.
"On the other hand, the government is also forced to draw funds from the RBI's reserves. There is silence in markets on Diwali, but foreign companies, through online
shopping platforms, have been filling up their coffers with the country's money," it rued.
Farmers were the worst hit as their crops, which were ready to be harvested, were damaged due to the untimely rains recently, the editorial pointed out.
"Unfortunately, nobody talks about how to bring farmers out of this," said the Sena, which is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
There was less clamour and 'more silence' during the state assembly polls held on the eve of Diwali, it claimed.
With inputs from ANI
