Taking the initiative to break the deadlock over seat-sharing with its ally Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has offered to settle for 125-130 of the State’s 288 seats, less than its original demand of 135, but it remains keen to avoid announcing a chief ministerial candidate.
The Sena will get 163 seats under the fresh proposal and each will cede nine seats to smaller allies. There was no official word on the ongoing talks between the partners. “A proposal has been given to the Sena and we are hopeful of getting a positive response,” said Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s Maharashtra unit president.
Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said the freeze in the alliance had thawed. “Both parties have decided to continue with the alliance to defeat the Congress-NCP government.”
The final seat-sharing formula is to be decided between Uddhav Thackeray and the BJP’s State election in-charge O.P. Mathur. The allies were expected to hold another meeting on Friday night.
The Sena has been insisting on the 2009 formula that gave 119 seats to the BJP and 169 to the Sena. The BJP asked for more and also wanted a discussion on the 59 seats that the Sena had not won in the past and 19 seats that the BJP had not won.
This had heightened tension between the allies leading to speculation on Thursday of a possible split. There could be some exchange of seats between the parties, according to leaders.
The BJP, whose core committee led by O.P. Mathur met here on Friday, said before sending the proposal to the Sena that it wanted the alliance to continue. “Our priority is to work for the aspirations of the people of Maharashtra. The people’s hopes are rested on the yuti [alliance],” BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said. “Who will be the CM is not important at this moment.”
The BJP leaders stressed that the party had displayed a “large heart” in the past and worked to keep the alliance intact. Eknath Khadse, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said the BJP made many “sacrifices” for the sake of the alliance and also reduced its Lok Sabha share from 32 to 26.
“We don’t want any mistakes from our allies that will benefit the NCP-Congress,” Mr. Mungantiwar said.
