Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Mumbai, The fate of the BJP’s 29-year-old alliance with the Shiv Sena is now in the hands of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Both the parties have claimed that the alliance will remain intact and an amicable solution to the deadlock over the seat sharing issue will be found.
Uddhav and BJP election incharge O P Mathur were expected to hold a closed-door meeting at Uddhav’s residence late on Friday to end the deadlock. However, the meeting did not take place leading to speculation over the possible rift.
According to a source, the BJP has presented a fresh proposal to Uddhav after the Shiv Sena chief maintained that not a single seat more than the 119, already decided upon by the alliance, would be given to the BJP .
According to a source, the BJP has demanded 130 out of 288 seats. The party has also proposed to the Sena to give nine seats each to the four junior partners. If Uddhav gives his nod to the proposal, the BJP will contest 121 seats, the Sena 149 and the juniors in 18 seats. In 2009, the Sena had contested 169 seats and the BJP 119.
Uddhav on Friday evening sent son Aditya and his trusted lieutenant Subhash Desai to negotiate with Mathur and state leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Vinod Tawde on the BJP’s fresh proposal. After the meeting, Aditya claimed that the issue will be resolved. “We are showing no ego. We are a family. We have gone together with ideologies. The point is how to go forward on this. That will be decided by Uddhavji and Omji. Sena is looking at protecting the future of Maharashtra. Fadnavis said that the BJP did not want to break the alliance. We have conveyed them our stand. Now, the ball is in their court,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the BJP’s core committee decided to reject Uddhav’s offer of 119 seats and demand exchange of several seats. Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse made it clear that the party was not going to settle for 119 seats. “We have proposed to the Shiv Sena to exchange the 59 seats which they have never won. In turn, we are ready to exchange the 19 seats which we have never won. This is a genuine proposal. Now, they have to take a decision,” he said.
“Uddhavji believes that the BJP is demanding 130 seats under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pressure. He thinks that the sainiks will get a wrong message that he has accepted Modi’s upper hand in the alliance if he accepts the demand,” a Shiv Sena leader said.
The Sena claims that it was Bal Thackeray, who had convinced A B Vajpayee, not to remove Narendra Modi after the Gujarat riots.
The Shiv Sena kept the friendship intact by refusing entry to Gujarat BJP rebel Shankarsinh Waghela.
Thackeray had dissuaded late BJP leader Gopinath Munde from joining the Congress .
The BJP on the other hand says it gave up six Lok Sabha seats to the Shiv Sena in the last couple of years.
The Shiv Sena abandoned the BJP when they voted for Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee in presidential elections Shiv Sena had backed Sharad Pawar for the Prime Minister’s post .
The Shiv Sena may join hands with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in case it splits with the BJP. According to a source, Aditya Thackeray called on his uncle and MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday night to “inquire about his health”.
At the meeting, he conveyed Uddhav’s message to think over the possible alliance. An ailing Raj is taking rest at his residence in Dadar for the last couple of days. Uddhav had made a proposal for the two parties to come together last year also. Raj had rejected the proposal saying that such proposals could not be discussed in public.
