Uddhav Thackeray meets Shiv Sena leaders to finalise candidates' list

MUMBAI: 'Matoshree', the residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra, saw a flurry of activity throughout the day with the party leadership meeting district unit chiefs and local leaders to finalise the list of candidates for October 15 Assembly elections.

According to a Sena leader, the meetings were attended by party MPs and senior leaders.

Though the leader termed the development as "routine meetings to finalise candidates", they came against the backdrop of tough posturing by both the Sena and BJP over finalisation of seats to contest the polls.

The alliance between Sena and BJP is teetering on the brink over disagreement on sharing of seats.

The leader said that there has been no word from the BJP over Sena's "final" proposal of keeping 151 seats for itself and offer of 119 seats to BJP and rest to smaller allies who are constituents of 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance).

Maharashtra Assembly has 288 seats. Shiv Sena had contested 169 seats and BJP 119 in 2009 Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, representatives of Rashtriya Samaj Party and Swabhimani Shektari Sanghtana - both constituents of 'Mahayuti' - met Uddhav to discuss the fate of the alliance amid growing anxiety in political circles over continuation of the saffron coalition.

Sadabhau Khot of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangthana told PTI after meeting the Sena chief that efforts are on to save the alliance. "We will meet BJP leaders tomorrow to find a solution," he added.

Time is running out for the saffron alliance of 25 years in the run-up to elections which are less than a month away, with September 27 being the last date for filing of nominations.

Against the backdrop of haggling over sealing the deal on seat-sharing, Shiv Sena today offered a take-it-or-leave-it formula of 119 seats which BJP has termed as being "nothing new".