The two major political alliances of Maharashtra were supposed to come to a consensus on seat-sharing for the October 15 assembly polls by Tuesday afternoon, but their battles continue to rage on inconclusively.
The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party were to have a final meeting on Tuesday evening, but they are now likely to take a decision only on September 26, when BJP president Amit Shah will be in Mumbai. Since the last day for candidates to file their nominations is September 27, this would give the saffron allies just a day to draw up a final list of nominees.
Leaders from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, meanwhile, met at Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s house on Tuesday to discuss the division of seats, but the much-hyped meetings ended on the same note as before – the NCP still wants half of the 288 assembly seats to contest from, while the Congress is not willing to part with more than 124.
The parties are set to meet again on Wednesday with the aim of resolving the deadlock once and for all. But on Tuesday afternoon, the Congress attempted to assert its superiority by claiming that if the alliance broke off, it would be solely NCP’s fault.
“These two parties are simply trying to buy time and see whether the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance breaks up or stays,” said Surendra Jhondale, a political commentator based in Mumbai.
Tensions between the Sena and the BJP, who have been allies for 25 years, thawed a little on Tuesday, when they assured the press that they would not head for a split. Even though the final formula is yet to be decided, early reports claim that the Sena has finally agreed to cede around 126 or 130 seats to the BJP – this is less than the BJP’s demand for 135 seats, but significantly more than the 119 seats the Sena was offering on Sunday.
But the Sena’s offer may come at the cost of smaller allies in the Mahayuti alliance, such as the Republican Party of India and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana. The Sena still hopes to keep around 150 seats for itself, which would mean that the smaller parties would have to give up a larger part of their share.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party were to have a final meeting on Tuesday evening, but they are now likely to take a decision only on September 26, when BJP president Amit Shah will be in Mumbai. Since the last day for candidates to file their nominations is September 27, this would give the saffron allies just a day to draw up a final list of nominees.
Leaders from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, meanwhile, met at Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s house on Tuesday to discuss the division of seats, but the much-hyped meetings ended on the same note as before – the NCP still wants half of the 288 assembly seats to contest from, while the Congress is not willing to part with more than 124.
The parties are set to meet again on Wednesday with the aim of resolving the deadlock once and for all. But on Tuesday afternoon, the Congress attempted to assert its superiority by claiming that if the alliance broke off, it would be solely NCP’s fault.
“These two parties are simply trying to buy time and see whether the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance breaks up or stays,” said Surendra Jhondale, a political commentator based in Mumbai.
Tensions between the Sena and the BJP, who have been allies for 25 years, thawed a little on Tuesday, when they assured the press that they would not head for a split. Even though the final formula is yet to be decided, early reports claim that the Sena has finally agreed to cede around 126 or 130 seats to the BJP – this is less than the BJP’s demand for 135 seats, but significantly more than the 119 seats the Sena was offering on Sunday.
But the Sena’s offer may come at the cost of smaller allies in the Mahayuti alliance, such as the Republican Party of India and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana. The Sena still hopes to keep around 150 seats for itself, which would mean that the smaller parties would have to give up a larger part of their share.
