In a twist in the battle between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party over sharing seats for the Maharashtra assembly elections due in October, the BJP central leadership has asked its ally to refrain from unilaterally announcing a chief ministerial candidate.
“The results of last assembly as well as the Lok Sabha elections have shown that the BJP is bigger party in the state than the Sena,” said a BJP general secretary, who asked to remain anonymous. “We are, therefore, not in favour of Sena unilaterally announcing a CM candidate. Our opinion has been duly conveyed to Uddhavji.”
The BJP’s move follows the Sena’s attempts to project party chief Uddhav Thackeray as the National Democratic Alliance's chief ministerial choice.
Traditionally, the Shiv Sena has acted as the big brother in the NDA in Maharashtra. In the last assembly elections in 2009, it had contested on 171 out of 288 seats, leaving the BJP to fight 117 seats. However, the results gave the BJP a slight edge over the Sena: the BJP won 46 seats, while the Sena was victorious in only 45 assembly constituencies. In this year's Lok Sabha elections, too, the BJP won 23 seats in the state, while Sena won 18 seats.
Immediately after the Lok Sabha election results, the allies locked horns on sharing seats for the assembly polls. While the Shiv Sena wants to retain its status as the senior partner in the Maharashtra NDA and field candidates in more seats than its ally, the BJP maintains that the results of the Lok Sabha election have altered the balance of power in the relationship.
Not only does the BJP want a larger share of the assembly seats, it expects the Sena to give some of the seats in its quota to smaller allies such as the Swabhiman Paksha and Ramdass Athawale’s Republican Party of India.
The latest BJP missive is likely to strain the relations between the two allies even further. Sena insiders say the party is already upset with the statement of BJP’s newly elected national president Amit Shah that the national party will lead the government in Maharashtra after the elections.
“Thackeray has so far not responded to the latest BJP missive,” a BJP general secretary said. But he added that his party would not take the first step to break the 25-year-old alliance in Maharashtra.
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“The results of last assembly as well as the Lok Sabha elections have shown that the BJP is bigger party in the state than the Sena,” said a BJP general secretary, who asked to remain anonymous. “We are, therefore, not in favour of Sena unilaterally announcing a CM candidate. Our opinion has been duly conveyed to Uddhavji.”
The BJP’s move follows the Sena’s attempts to project party chief Uddhav Thackeray as the National Democratic Alliance's chief ministerial choice.
Traditionally, the Shiv Sena has acted as the big brother in the NDA in Maharashtra. In the last assembly elections in 2009, it had contested on 171 out of 288 seats, leaving the BJP to fight 117 seats. However, the results gave the BJP a slight edge over the Sena: the BJP won 46 seats, while the Sena was victorious in only 45 assembly constituencies. In this year's Lok Sabha elections, too, the BJP won 23 seats in the state, while Sena won 18 seats.
Immediately after the Lok Sabha election results, the allies locked horns on sharing seats for the assembly polls. While the Shiv Sena wants to retain its status as the senior partner in the Maharashtra NDA and field candidates in more seats than its ally, the BJP maintains that the results of the Lok Sabha election have altered the balance of power in the relationship.
Not only does the BJP want a larger share of the assembly seats, it expects the Sena to give some of the seats in its quota to smaller allies such as the Swabhiman Paksha and Ramdass Athawale’s Republican Party of India.
The latest BJP missive is likely to strain the relations between the two allies even further. Sena insiders say the party is already upset with the statement of BJP’s newly elected national president Amit Shah that the national party will lead the government in Maharashtra after the elections.
“Thackeray has so far not responded to the latest BJP missive,” a BJP general secretary said. But he added that his party would not take the first step to break the 25-year-old alliance in Maharashtra.
