BJP tells ally Shiv Sena it wants to contest from 130 seats in Maharashtra
BJP sources said that Shah and PM Narendra Modi have been informed that the party will not agree for anything less than 130 seats. If the Sena agrees to this demand, it will be left with 140 seats for itself after making available 18 seats to its smaller allies.
BJP president Amit Shah reached out to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to salvage the saffron alliance and presented him a "liberal proposal" to contest from 130 of the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra.
If the Sena agrees to this demand, it will be left with 140 seats for itself after making available 18 seats to its smaller allies. In 2009, the Shiv Sena had contested 169 seats and the BJP 119 seats. On Sunday, Uddhav had offered 119 seats to BJP, leaving 151 seats to itself and 18 for other allies.
The BJP leaders said that they were now awaiting a final word from Uddhav. The party's latest offer to contest from 130 seats is five less than its earlier claim of 135.
"We have asked them to give us 130 seats to contest from. We are even ready to contest from those seats that the Sena is not keen to contest from, as long as it gives us the desired number of seats. All this has been conveyed to the Sena. The BJP is clear about its demand and it is also certain that we could not have proposed a more liberal arrangement," Rudy, BJP's general Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
BJP sources said that Shah and PM Narendra Modi have been informed that the party will not agree for anything less than 130 seats. The BJP's state unit is in favour of contesting alone if the Sena did not concede to the above demand, they added. The BJP leaders are also already discussing preparations for the October 15 elections and are deliberating upon the situation in each of the Assembly seat that they are keen to contest from.
"There is just a little over 20 days to go for the polls and there is much left to do. We want the conflict to be resolved soon and hence, the party has made this fresh, more liberal proposal. The Sena must relent now in the interest of the state's welfare for it is important that the alliance works together to defeat the Congress-NCP alliance. Constant talks are on between the two parties even now and we are awaiting the Sena's final decision," senior BJP leader Vinod Tawade told Mail Today.
Lists
In Delhi, sources in the BJP said that the party has already prepared two lists of candidates - one if the alliance continues and another in case it fails to clinch a deal. One list comprise around 130 candidates while another includes the majority of seats barring 20-30 where the party leaders were still looking for appropriate names or expecting leaders from other parties to join them.
- With inputs from Kumar Vikram in New Delhi