Mumbai: Hectic backroom consultations are taking place in both BJP and Shiv Sena camps. In Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah attended the party’s central election committee meeting in the hope of finding a solution to the stalemate. Though the state BJP unit is in favour of going it alone if Sena is unwilling to accept its demands, both PM Modi and Mr Shah wish to avoid any unpleasantness with the decades-old ally, said party sources.
Following a meeting with the state leaders who made a beeline for Delhi in the morning, the party is also considering releasing its list of candidates on Monday, the day the fate of the alliance is expected to be decided. The seats they are looking at include the ones BJP had won in 2009, party sources said.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s speech at the party’s national executive meet, admitting that the big question is “whether the alliance with the BJP will survive,” had upset BJP leaders, sources said.
At the heart of the dispute is the post of chief minister – the partner that wins the most seats will get the post should the BJP-Shiv Sena combine comes to power.
Thackeray said the Sena was ready to contest 151 of Maharashtra’s 288 seats – considerably less than the 169 it contested last time. The 18 extra seats could be given to their allies, leaving 119 for BJP to contest.
BJP claims it is asking for additional seats from the 59 in which Sena never performed well. For BJP, the corresponding figure is 19.
“If these seats were to be re-allocated, then we all would benefit,” say senior state BJP leaders Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde.
The Sena takes that as a huge slight and says its cadres will rebel.