The quarter-century old Shiv Sena-BJP alliance formed on the Hindutva agenda ended on Thursday over the sharing of a dozen seats with four smaller parties who were part of the ‘Mahayuti’(grand alliance).
The divorce was announced less than 48 hours before nominations for the October 15 Assembly elections close on Saturday. The seat-sharing formula between the BJP and the three smaller allies would be decided later in the night. The fourth ally, the Republican Party of India-(Athawale) is expected to take a call late Thursday.
The final push for the separation came last Sunday when the Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray unilaterally declared that his party would settle for nothing less than 151 seats, fixed quota for the BJP at 119 and of the smaller allies at 18. Despite numerous pleas by the BJP leadership to be “more accommodative” he refused to budge from his position.
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However, on Tuesday, it appeared that the two had come to an understanding in the hope that they could persuade the smaller parties for just seven seats. But the alliance hit a new road block on Wednesday with the BJP insisting that the Sena be more just towards the smaller parties and part few more seats to them. The Sena, however, claimed that it had already forgone 18 seats out of its 2009 tally of 169.
The saffron alliance which was scripted by Bal Thackeray and BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan, and later extended into a ‘Mahayuti’ by Gopinath Munde, has witnessed various ups and downs over the years only to sail through each time.
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Significantly Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray maintained silence on the break-up. His son Aaditya took to Twitter to express regret. “Very sad tht State BJP chose to part ways with 25 yr old ally Shiv Sena when we stuck together even in their Bure Din, unconditionally,” he tweeted.
While the BJP had assumed the role of the senior partner in the Lok Sabha elections, the Sena traditionally got a larger share of the seats in the State Assembly. Till 2009, the Sena fought 169 seats while the BJP got 119. Riding on its 2014 Lok Sabha win, the BJP demanded an equal share in the alliance. However, despite various equations being formulated, both the parties failed to reach an agreement.
The fall-out of the divorce is expected in bodies like the Mumbai Municipal Corporation where the two are ruling partners. Besides, the Sena is represented in the union cabinet with its sole nominee Anant Geete, who is currently Heavy Industries Minister.
In the Central Election Committee meeting last Sunday, the BJP’s top leadership including Mr. Modi discussed all the candidates as well as the party strategy with and without Shiv Sena. Already posters have appeared in Mumbai with Sena showing only Mr. Bal Thackeray and the BJP only projecting Mr. Modi. The BJP feels that with Mr. Modi as its star campaigner and “development and good governance” as its agenda, it will win a majority.
With inputs from Gargi Parsai