 "BJP under pressure to continue its 25-year-old alliance with Shiv Sena")
Notably, the Shiv Sena has flatly rejected the BJP’s demand for an equal share or 135 seats, offering the latter only 119 seats. The Shiv Sena’s aggressive posture has resulted in discontinuation of a dialogue between the two parties.
The core committee of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP met on Friday morning to take stock of the situation. Core committee member and former BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar scoffed at media reports that BJP has decided to break its alliance with the Sena and would independently fight the elections. “It has been the BJP's sincere effort to keep its alliance with the Shiv Sena intact. The BJP will send one more seat-sharing proposal to the Sena for its consideration. The party is reading in newspapers and media about the Shiv Sena’s offer of 119 seats, but that is an old formula.”
Also Read
He said the BJP core committee discussed how both parties can negotiate on sharing or exchanging 59 seats where the Shiv Sena has never won and 19 seats where the BJP has been a loser. Mungantiwar said the BJP strongly feels further discussion on these seats was needed. He said a fresh proposal for sharing these seats will soon be forwarded to the Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai told Business Standard, “The Shiv Sena has convened a meeting of heads of city, taluka and district units on September 21 to take stock of the present political condition and the fate of the party’s alliance with the BJP.”
He said Shiv Sena members have given full powers to party chief Uddhav Thackeray to take a final call on whether to break its alliance with the BJP or go solo.
“In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena is a party that gives, not a party that takes. We are not asking, we are giving. They should think about what they are asking,” said Shiv Sena leader and member of Parliament Sanjay Raut.