After the exit polls gave a thumping majority to the NDA, Shiv Sena on Monday took a dig at Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and mocked his efforts to form a non-BJP government at the Centre.
The party said Naidu was unnecessarily exhausting himself by running from pillar to post as there was no guarantee of this "possible coalition" staying intact by the time results are out on May 23.
"Why is Chandrababu Naidu is exhausting himself without any reason? Hope his current excitement lasts till May 23. We wish him luck for the same," Shiv Sena said in its editorial mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
The TDP chief's deliberations are part of his efforts to unite non-NDA parties and bring them together on one platform.
In the past one week, he undertook a hectic round of discussions with parties and met leaders including Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Mahagathbandhan leaders — Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati.
“There are at least five contenders for the Prime Minister's post in the Opposition. There are more chances of their disillusionment (mohbhang). Who will form the government? This question has already been answered. Amit Shah said that BJP will win 300 seats and the party reached that target in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections only," Shiv Sena said.
"The country cannot afford to have a coalition government crawling with the help of several small parties," it opined.
Referring to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's meetings with several opposition leaders in the last few days, the Sena said some people think after the declaration of results, the situation in Delhi (Centre) would be unstable and "they want to benefit out of it".
"The opposition has assumed the BJP would not come to power, so they are trying hard to gain support of all possible parties to keep the BJP out of power," it said.
"Naidu is trying for a coalition but in reality, his efforts are going to be futile. He met NCP chief Sharad Pawar twice in Delhi, but there is no guarantee of this possible coalition continuing to stay intact by May 23 evening," said the Sena, an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
It claimed the Left parties were unlikely to open their account in West Bengal, and the Aam Aadmi Party was expected to meet a similar fate in Punjab, Delhi and Haryana.
The Left's base in Kerala was also likely to shrink further, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
"Naidu himself had a hard time in Andhra Pradesh where YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy seems to be putting up a strong contest.
In AP's neighbouring Telangana, compared to Naidu's TDP and the Congress, the TRS led by K Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to secure a major win," it said.