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On the heels of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s drubbing in the recent by-elections in various states, party President Amit Shah on Thursday said BJP and its ally, Shiv Sena, should quickly seal a seat-sharing deal with dignity and mutual respect for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, slated for October 15.
Shah said the BJP had come forward two steps and called upon the Shiv Sena to reciprocate, as the sole objective is to dislodge the 15-year Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government in the state.
Shah has sent a clear signal to its 25-year-old ally that BJP-led government will be a reality in the state.
Party leader and state core committee member Sudhir Mungantiwar said BJP has sent a list of 119 seats to the central leadership, adding that 135 seats was only an estimate. “We have communicated this to the Shiv Sena. Discussions will go on as far as distribution of seats is concerned,” he said.
A former minister belonging to the party, who did not want to be named, told Business Standard, “BJP wants to walk together with the Shiv Sena. However, the chorus is rising within the party that if BJP bends and accepts Shiv Sena’s proposal of lower number of seats, the party will have to wait for another decade to get the chief minister's post. Party members argue that this is an opportunity to win the maximum number of seats so that BJP becomes an obvious claimant over the chief minister's post.”
Statements by Shah and other BJP leaders led the Shiv Sena leadership to go into a huddle and discuss the party’s course of action. The Shiv Sena is reiterating that it is the natural claimant to the chief minister’s post. Sena President Uddhav Thackeray had earlier announced he would become the CM as he will not shy away from taking any responsibility.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut said his party wanted the alliance to continue, but on its terms. “In Maharashtra, the chief minister will be from the Shiv Sena and we will contest more seats. There will be no change in that,” he added.
Shiv Sena has convened a crucial meeting of its heads of district, city and taluka units across the state on September 21 in Mumbai to take stock of the poll preparations.
