Uncertainty continued over the possibility of the ruling saffron partners forging an alliance for the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, with both the Shiv Sena and BJP failing to arrive at a consensus on the seat-sharing arrangement.
At a time when the seat-sharing talks between the saffron alliance appeared to have reached a dead end, the Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday went ahead and released his party’s manifesto for the BMC polls scheduled for February 21.
The release of an independent manifesto by the Shiv Sena did not go well with its senior alliance partner in the State, BJP, which has not taken kindly to the offer of mere 60 seats (out of total 227 seats in the BMC) made by the Sena.
The talks between the saffron alliance partners hit a road block on Sunday, after Sena’s spokesperson Sanjay Raut went to town saying that the BJP did not deserve more than 60 seats-out of the total 227 seats in the BMC. On its part, the BJP-which being the principal ruling party in the State considers itself stronger party than it was in the 2012 BMC polls, has demanded 114 seats, a demand that the Sena has rejected outright.
Uddhav, who released the Sena’s manifesto on the occasion of late Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary, chose not reply specifically on whether his party would have a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP.
Replying to a query, Uddhav said, “The talks between the two parties are on. If the talks succeed and we have an alliance with the BJP, then we will incorporate some of its promises in our manifesto, provided if we find them good”.
Declining to respond to the Sena’s decision to release its manifesto ahead of the finalisation of the seat-sharing talks with his party, BJP’s Mumbai unit president Ashish Shelar said: “We are in favour of having an alliance with the Shiv Sena. That being the case, I would not like to comment on the Sena’s decision to come out its manifesto first. Our manifesto is ready. If we are able to forge an alliance, then we will publish our manifesto jointly”.
Alluding to the inconclusive seat-sharing talks with the Sena, Shelkar said: Our demand for 114 out of 227 is based on logic, while the offer of 60 seats made to us by the Sena lacks logic. That being the case, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will take a final decision on whether or not to have an alliance with the Sena”.
In the 2012 BMC polls, the Shiv Sena – which had forged an alliance with the BJP and RPI(A) – had contested 135 out of the total 227 seats. The BJP had put up candidates in 63 wards, while the RPI(A) had contested 29 seats. Of the 135 seats it had contested, the Sena had won 75 seats, while the BJP had bagged 32 seats out of the 63 seats it had contested. The RPI (A) had bagged mere one seat.
Between the 2012 BMC polls when the Congress-NCP alliance was running the government in Maharashtra and now, there has been a sea change in the political scenario in the State.
With it at the helm of affairs in the State, the BJP has for quite some time been making preparations to go it alone in the BMC polls. It will become clear in the next few days as the BJP would contest the polls on its own strength.