Sena-BJP alliance talks for BMC polls hit roadblock

Shiv Sena's Anil Parab and Anil Desai asked BJP to rein in its leaders

Talks of a pre-poll alliance between saffron allies Shiv Sena and BJP for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls made no headway on Friday as leaders of both sides blamed each other for "derailing" the ongoing talks and put the ball in the chief minister's court for a final call. BJP is Bharatiya Janata Party.

Hinting at a breakdown, Shiv Sena’s Anil Parab said, "We have put forth what we had to say. Now, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should clear his stand on the alliance." Meanwhile, BJP sources also hinted at a possible split, with both alliance partners going solo for the February 21 polls.

Shiv Sena’s Parab and Anil Desai asked BJP to rein in its leaders from criticising Sena as repeated barbs could derail talks.

Parab said they had conveyed their displeasure to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray about the BJP leaders' verbal diatribes against the latter.

"If allegations are going to be levelled against our party president, we cannot tolerate those. Talks are over from our side and there will be no next meeting between Shiv Sena and BJP leaders," he said.

Countering Sena's demand to rein in BJP politicians from criticising its leaders, state minister for school education Vinod Tawde, one of the negotiators from the BJP side, said, "Anil Parab says they did not criticise any BJP leader through Saamana (the Sena mouthpiece). We also did not criticise any Sena leader. We only slammed the contractors. Why did it sting you (Sena)?"

Commenting upon the breakdown in the talks, he said, "We were supposed to give a list for yuti (alliance) today. There was supposed to be a meeting, but Sena says no and that too I came to know through the media. Discussions on yuti are not done through the media."

Tawde said the BJP was "positive" about the alliance "right from the first meeting".

"For the sake of the alliance, myself, state party chief Raosaheb Danve and other senior ministers took part in the talks from the BJP side. But, the Sena sent junior people like a divisional chief, a former MLA for the discussions. Still, we persisted with the discussion. We had expected senior leaders like Subhash Desai, Ramdas Kadam to take part from the Sena side," he added.