The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chandrakant Patil said on Tuesday said that the final seat-sharing deal between the BJP and the Shiv Sena for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra will be announced by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray. He said that they are currently discussing its contours with the BJP chief Amit Shah. He also said that he would not make any comments on the seat-sharing issue in the future.

'Final deal'

"The alliance talks are in the final stage. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray are finalising the talks. They are also discussing it with BJP national president Amit Shah. I have thus decided not to make any further comments over the issue," Patil stated. This statement comes after the intense deliberations going on between top leaders of the BJP and the Sena to arrive at a mutually-agreeable seat-sharing formula for the October 21 assembly polls.

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The BJP State President also cleared the air on the induction of Narayan Rane, leader of Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha and his two sons into the BJP, saying the decision will be finalised after Fadnavis and Thackeray seal the seat-sharing deal. "Fadnavis and Thackeray are finalising a seat-sharing formula. Once they agree on it, a decision regarding Rane's induction into the BJP will be finalised," he said. Rane, a former Shiv Sainik and chief minister of the firstever "yuti" (Sena-BJP alliance) government in Maharashtra during 1995-99 for a brief period, had left Sena in late 1990s on a sour note and joined the Congress. He later quit the Congress to float his own party.

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BJP-Sena Alliance Will Win 220 Seats In Polls

Earlier, Patil said that he is confident about the BJP-Sena alliance winning 220 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly Elections. "Discussions on the alliance is at the last stage. Those who are thinking that alliance will not happen are going to be disappointed. I am confident that we will get 220 seats in the upcoming assembly elections," he said while addressing a press conference.

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BJP-Sena alliance

The Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Saturday, said that the BJP and the Shiv Sena will contest the next month's assembly polls together. The CM also said that he is confident that people will show him their support and will help him retain the post after elections.

"I am saying with no uncertainty that we will contest the Assembly polls along with Shiv Sena. The seat-sharing talks are still on, do not trust the reports," said Fadnavis. Referring to the Sena pitching for equal sharing of the 288 seats, the chief minister said all details about the seat-sharing arrangements will be formally announced at a press briefing.

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(with PTI inputs)