Published 17:58 IST, September 13th 2019
Uddhav Thackeray: 'No issues between Shiv Sena and BJP seat-sharing'
Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena Chief on Friday stated that there is no issue over seat-sharing with ally BJP for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena Chief on Friday stated that there is no issue over seat-sharing with its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. He further stated that everything between the Shiv Sena and the BJP has been already decided. The Maharashtra Assembly polls are due in October.
On one hand, both the parties - BJP and Shiv Sena have indicated that all is well between them, reports suggested that Shiv Sena demanded the chief minister's post. However, in order to clarify the reports, the Shiv Sena Chief said, "I will wait for the chief minister to prepare a list of Shiv Sena candidates and on which seats we could fight, then I will put that list before the party and we will accordingly decide how to move forward."
Shiv Sena-BJP seat-sharing
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday had offered 106 seats to its ally Shiv Sena for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls. The Assembly consists a total of 288 seats. In 2014, both the parties had contested the elections separately after failing to arrive at a seat-sharing formula. The BJP had won 122 seats and the Shiv Sena had won 63 seats. Udhhav Thackeray in the presence of Narendra Modi last week had said that the alliance between his party and the BJP is 'inevitable' and it would return to power once again.
Other allies
The Jan Surajya Shakti Party, another ally, who has a presence in western Maharashtra had demanded nine seats earlier. However, later on, its leader Vinay Kore had agreed to four seats during the talks on Wednesday. Further, discussions are still on with the remaining allies - Republican Party of India led by Union minister Ramdas Athawale, Shiv Sangram and Rashtriya Samaj Party. Earlier, the three parties had rejected the BJP's proposal that their candidates contest with the BJP symbol.
(Inputs from PTI)
Updated 19:11 IST, September 13th 2019