Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2014: Shiv Sena may announce support to BJP to form government

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena gave clear indications on Wednesday that the party may announce its support to BJP to form the next government in Maharashtra and would even be ready to join the government. However, some leaders of the Sena insist that they should enter into an alliance with BJP only if something respectable is offered to the Sena.

“We have had very good discussions with leaders of BJP in Delhi last night. We think that there would be no problems henceforth. We jointly decided that the discussion on this issue will continue from Monday onwards,” said Sena leader Subhash Desai.

Desai and Sena MP Anil Desai were in Delhi on Monday night to have talks with BJP leaders and take the process of formation of an alliance forward. The overall buzz was that the Shiv Sena had decided to give unconditional support to BJP. It was clear that the Shiv Sena had climbed down from its earlier stand that it would not approach BJP for support and would wait for it to make the first move. Sources within the Shiv Sena had earlier said that the two leaders would be meeting home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi. However Desai denied it.

Asked whether Uddhav Thackeray would also be going to Delhi to meet BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming days, Desai said: “No such thing has been decided. We have only decided to resume talks after Diwali. We will resume talks on Monday. We hope for a positive outcome.”

Sena Lok Sabha MP Gajanan Kirtikar, however, said “we should not participate in the government unless some basic condition are agreed to. We cannot compromise on our pride. A respectable solution must be offered by BJP.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Uddhav Thackeray during the inauguration of a private hospital in south Mumbai this weekend. Sena sources did not confirm whether Modi and Thackeray will have a separate meeting during the visit.

The Sena leadership is under some pressure from its own MLAs to resume a dialogue with BJP and participate in the new government. BJP had earlier indicated that it could form a minority government without speaking with the Shiv Sena and with the support of independent MLAs and then work on proving a majority in the House. Sena MLAs feel that they would find it difficult to sit in the opposition when its partner for 25 years runs the government.