Maharashtra: BJP-Shiv Sena alliance on the brink, again

MUMBAI: The 25-year-old saffron alliance in Maharashtra today looked hurtling towards a break up with BJP leaders walking out of a meeting with their Shiv Sena interlocutors called to discuss seat-sharing for Maharashtra Assembly polls and the latter charging BJP with being "in a hurry to end the relationship".

The last-ditch efforts to salvage the alliance appeared set to come a cropper after state BJP president Devendra Fadnavis and Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Vinod Tawde left the meeting midway, terming Sena's proposals as "unaccomodative" of the allies.

"We have received several proposals from Shiv Sena, but all these show they are not accommodative of either BJP or other allies," Fadnavis told reporters emerging from the meeting at BJP's Maharashtra election observer O P Mathur's residence.

He said the matter will now be discussed by the state BJP's Core Committee.

A few minutes after Fadvanis and Tawde had left, senior Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote, who along with Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai was sent by party chief Uddhav Thackeray for the negotiations, said "BJP is in a hurry to end the relationship".

"We had come to discuss the final proposal sent by Uddhav Thackeray. There were differences on only a few seats but they left the meeting without even caring to inform us," Raote said.

One of the proposals, according to reports, was that Shiv Sena and BJP will contest 151 and 127 seats respectively leaving 10 of the state's 288 Assembly seats for smaller allies. Additionally, it was said that three candidates of smaller partners of 6-party 'Mahayuti' will contest on Sena tickets and, similarly, BJP would accommodate one nominee in its quota of seats.

An angry Raote said,"We came to know through media about BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy speaking of ending the alliance."

"If this is their stance, then we will also give a befitting reply through Uddhavji," he said.