Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will today meet Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and discuss BJP’s new offer in which the party has scaled down its demand to 135 seats, saying it is prepared for five less and even accept “the worst possible seats.
In a bid to salvage the alliance with Shiv Sena for Maharashtra Assembly Elections slated to be held on October 15, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday spoke to Uddhav Thackeray and made a “very liberal offer” of accepting 130 of the 288 seats.
Thackeray had made it clear in Mumbai on Sunday that his final offer to BJP was 119 seats while Sena will fight 151 seats, leaving 18 for smaller allies. Rejecting the proposal, Rudy said “it may not be possible” as BJP had contested 119 seats last time as well.
We won’t pull the plug. We are hopeful that a solution will be found. The general consensus (in party’s Central Election Commission and Parliamentary Board meetings on Sunday) was that we want to have an alliance and we should work for the alliance.
Dismayed at the prospects of the impending break-up of the ‘Grand Alliance’, other smaller partners voiced their bitter disapproval and planned to contest the elections independently. An irritated Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) chief Mahadeo Jankar told media persons that if the alliance collapsed, his party would contest a whopping 125 seats independently.
Similarly, the Swabhimani Sanghatana led by Raju Shetti is likely to contest on its own and according to preliminary reports, was looking at nominating 75 candidates. Republican Party of India-A chief Ramdas Athawale said that it was imperative for the BJP-Sena to arrive at an understanding immediately, even as some party members prepared to file nominations.
Bureau Report
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