Talks of a pre-poll alliance between saffron allies Shiv Sena and BJP for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls made no headway today as the 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.
Hinting at a breakdown, senior Sena MLC 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 the alliance partners going solo for the February 21 polls.
Parab and senior Sena Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai called upon the BJP to rein in its leaders from criticising the Sena as repeated barbs could derail the talks.
Parab said they had conveyed their displeasure to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray about the BJP leaders' verbal diatribes against the latter.
"If allegations are going to be levelled against our party president, then we cannot tolerate it. Talks are over from our side and there will be no next meeting between Sena and BJP leaders," he added.
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.
Meanwhile, Parab said on one hand, BJP leaders were
criticising Sena leaders and on the other, the chief minister was talking about an alliance between the two parties.
"This is double speak of the BJP. They (BJP) should ask their leaders to stop these loose talks," the Sena MLC said.
Senior Sena MP Anil Desai too echoed similar sentiments arguing that the BJP should rein in its leaders or else, the continued tirade could derail the alliance talks.
Parab claimed that the Sena did not make any personal criticism of any BJP leader through 'Saamana'.
He, however, said, "But, in the last two years, various allegations have been levelled against 13 BJP ministers. Allegations have also been levelled against Vinod Tawde, Prakash Mehta and Ashish Shelar who are coming for the talks with us."
"If we want to talk of transparency, we should start from there. Sena is exercising restraint, the BJP too should do the same," Parab added.
Even as Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has set a January 21 deadline to wrap up alliance and seat-sharing talks for the February 21 polls, there is no sign of any progress in the talks between the leaders of both the parties or Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Thackeray as yet.
Thackeray has already announced that he will clear his stand on alliance and how to contest the BMC polls in his address to Shiv Sainiks at Shanmukhanand Hall on January 23, the birth anniversary of late Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
(Reopen BOM19)
Meanwhile, BJP leaders told
