An internal survey conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party has given the party and the Shiv Sena equal chances to retain power if they contest the civic polls separately.
The survey’s findings showed that BJP would claim 33% of the vote share, Sena 33%, Congress 14%, Nationalist Congress Party 4% and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 7% in the BMC polls.
According to party sources, the BJP is bargaining hard with the Shiv Sena a 50:50 ward-sharing formula on the basis of the findings. However, the talks have not made headway so far.
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The survey was conducted in all 227 wards in the city. Voters were asked which party was most likely to regain power, if demonetisation would have an impact on the polls, and whether the performance of the State government was satisfactory or not. While 70% of voters felt that demonetisation would affect the outcome of the polls, 51% expressed satisfaction with the working of the State government. As many as 27% voters said demonetisation would weed out black money. “We are confident of stitching an alliance even with a 50:50 formula,” said a senior BJP leader.
Meanwhile, the Opposition said it would be happy if the BJP and the Sena did not form an alliance. NCP’s state chief Sunil Tatkare said, “If the two parties do not come together we will be more than happy. It would improve our tally.”