While making noises about going it alone in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday kept its options open and presented the Shiv Sena a fresh formula for contesting 130 seats in the 288-member Assembly, a climbdown from the 144 seats it had initially demanded.
“The BJP has sent a fresh proposal of 130 seats to the Shiv Sena,” party in-charge for Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here.
Having come up against ‘Mission-151’ announced by the Shiv Sena, BJP negotiators were working overtime on a formula that would keep the alliance intact. It is believed the talks were deadlocked as no auspicious moves are made during the ongoing “pitrupaksha” period.
The BJP particularly wants the Shiv Sena to re-negotiate the 59 seats where the party fared poorly the last time and which have gone to the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance. “There are 59 such seats with the Shiv Sena which should be re-distributed among the alliance partners so that the Congress and the NCP do not get a free run,” a senior BJP leader said.
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