File photo of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
The Shiv Sena has received the sort of news that could make its Diwali a happy one, after all. A senior leader of the BJP in Maharashtra has described the Shiv Sena as the preferred option for a partner in forming the new government in Maharashtra. However, Om Prakash Mathur, a key strategist of the BJP, stressed, " We are the big brother. The Shiv Sena should accept that."
In the election, the BJP won its best-ever result in Maharashtra but needs 22 more seats to form the government. The Shiv Sena, with whom it split acrimoniously in September, placed second. Any chance of the Shiv Sena exploiting the BJP's need for a partner was blown to pieces by Sharad Pawar's party, the NCP, which made a surprise public offer to back the BJP.
Mr Thackeray has sulkily said that after he called the PM and BJP president Amit Shah to suggest "looking forward", talks have not been initiated. The BJP, keen to tighten the squeeze on him, today said that top leader Rajnath Singh will not travel to Mumbai before Diwali to decide what happens next.
"Uddhav's call was only a congratulatory one...he needs to come to us with a concrete proposal," said Mr Mathur to NDTV, while also suggesting the Shiv Sena end the attacking editorials that have become a daily feature of its mouthpiece.
BJP sources have made it clear that the Shiv Sena has to accept it placed a distant second in the election, which greatly weakens its claim to hefty posts like Deputy Chief Minister or key portfolios like Finance or Home, should a reconciliation be forged.
At the same time, the Shiv Sena, which partnered with the BJP for 25 years before September's bitter split, has been described "a natural fit" by a series of BJP leaders. Mr Pawar's party, in contrast, was a partner of the BJP's arch-rival, the Congress, though that marriage also ended before the state election.