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Neither side has called off the oldest political alliance in the country, but if a Shiv Sena poster, published by Economic Times on Tuesday, is any indication, then the Bharatiya Janata Party has been condemned to eternal damnation.
The poster says ‘among those buried in Maharashtra’s soil by Chhatrapati Shivaji’s troops are Mughals, Adilshah (ruler of Bijapur who sent Afzal Khan to capture Chhatrapati Shivaji, in vain), and Kutubshah. So who is this new Shah?’ – a reference to the BJP president who, the Sena believes, is behind its alliance partner driving a hard bargain in Maharashtra.
Further, the poster exhorts Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray not to stretch the bow (its election symbol) so much that it breaks.
The two parties have been debating seat-sharing for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls, with the Sena offering the BJP 119 seats – an offer that the BJP is refusing to accept.
Initially, the BJP had made a demand of 135 seats but on Monday night BJP president, in an attempt to salvage the alliance, said that the party would scale down on its demand for 135 seats, saying it is prepared for five less and even accept “the worst possible seats”.
Shah spoke to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and made a “very liberal offer” of accepting 130 of the 288 seats. He also offered to accept the “worst possible seats” which Sena has not won in the last 25 years of their alliance.
“Shah has spoken to Sena chief and that indicates that we are eager to have the alliance,” BJP’s general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
“We are very keen that the alliance exists,” Rudy told reporters on Monday adding that it was prepared to in the all 288 seats if it is “compelled” to break ties with Sena. Thackeray had made it clear in Mumbai on Sunday that his final offer to the BJP was 119 seats while Sena will fight 151 seats, leaving 18 for smaller allies.
Image: The Shiv Sena poster making a dig at BJP president Amit Shah.