This Article is From Oct 21, 2014

Maharashtra: BJP Reviews Options, Shiv Sena Sweats, Says No Call Yet

Maharashtra: BJP Reviews Options, Shiv Sena Sweats, Says No Call Yet

PM Modi with BJP President Amit Shah during the party's Parliamentary board meeting on Assembly polls results. (Press Trust of India)

Mumbai: The BJP is taking its time to review options for its partner to form the next government in Maharashtra. With NCP offering external support to a BJP government, former ally Shiv Sena, which has already made overtures, is being made to sweat. Sena said till Monday night, it has received no communication from the BJP, despite its broad agreement to go forward.

"We have got more seats on our own than we could have in alliance. We have to be very clear this mandate is for BJP," BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told NDTV.

On Sunday evening, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray reportedly spoke on the phone to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, both of whom he had excoriated at his election rallies. Sources close to Mr Thackeray said he suggested that it was time to look forward, and the PM courteously agreed.

Top leaders in the BJP say that while the Sena is seen as a natural choice - the parties shared a 25-year alliance till they broke up in September - the Sena must accept that it has little bargaining power and demands like the post of Deputy Chief Minister are disproportionate to its clout. Sena sources insist no such demand has been made or suggested.

The BJP won its strongest-ever result in Maharashtra on Sunday with 123 seats, but it needs 22 more to form the government. The Sena could have exploited that gap, but Sharad Pawar's NCP eliminated that possibility by offering external support. In addition, BJP sources also indicate that the BJP is already in touch with independents and other small parties like Hitendra Thakur's Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, claiming it has an assurance of support from them.

The BJP and the Sena last governed Maharashtra together from 1995 to 1999. The Sena was the lead player; the BJP was its junior partner. After the BJP's spectacular sweep in the national election this year, the party made it clear that it wanted to recalibrate the arrangement for Maharashtra. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray disagreed, and the alliance broke in September, though it was clear that after 15 years of being governed by the Congress and Mr Pawar's party, Maharashtra was ready for change.

The BJP's result proved that it had correctly chosen to contest the state on its own terms, with the Prime Minister leading the campaign.

But the BJP will review its options carefully. And the party is clear that a return to the sort of power-sharing agreement they had with the Sena in the 90s is impossible.

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