Maharashtra polls: Shiv Sena refuses to 'obey' BJP ultimatum

Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party gave it an ultimatum to take a final call on the seat-sharing pact for the Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena said on Thursday night that it would not be dictated by anybody.

"We won't compromise on our self-respect. We met (party president) Uddhav Thackeray and had a discussion on alliance. The Shiv Sena does not obey anybody's ultimatum. The final decision will be taken only by Uddhav Thackeray," Sena MP Sanjay Raut told reporters in Mumbai.

Thackeray called an emergency meeting of his close aides at his residence after the BJP asked the Sena to agree on a seat-sharing formula or face a break-up of the alliance.

Senior Sena leaders, including Gajanan Kirtikar, Sanjay Raut, Ramdas Kadam, Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote, were present at the meeting.

Raut said the party top brass authorised Thackeray to take a decision on the alliance with the BJP.

"Any decision taken by the party chief on the alliance with BJP will be final. The state will stand behind Uddhav Thackeray over whatever decision he takes," Raut said.

The BJP had proposed, after its landslide victory in Lok Sabha polls, that both parties should contest 135 seats each (of the total 288 assembly seats). But the Sena rejected this demand.

In the 2009 elections, the BJP had contested 119 seats and Shiv Sena 169. However, this time both parties would have to cede some seats for other members of their 'grand alliance' namely the Swabhimaani Shetkari Paksha, Republican Party of India, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and MLC Vinayak Mete's Shivasangram.

Image: Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray