BJP leaders deny any rift, insist that Amit Shah had to prioritise his party. (File pic)
BJP president Amit Shah made a last-minute change of plan to accommodate Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in his Mumbai itinerary today. The long-time allies spoke on the phone this morning and pulled back from a bitter confrontation over seat-sharing for the upcoming Maharashtra polls.
Mr Shah, who is visiting Mumbai for the first time today since taking charge of the BJP, will meet Mr Thackeray at 9.30 pm, sources have told NDTV.
It is not clear whether the meeting will be more than a "Ganpati darshan" or prayers for the Ganesha festival, but sources say it is the first step towards mending ties ahead of state polls.
The Sena had been upset at being told earlier that Amit Shah would not meet their chief, even though he is scheduled to visit three Ganesh Pandals in the city and attend a lunch hosted by young BJP MP Poonam Mahajan.
The Sena, in a late night response to the snub, announced that Mr Thackeray would address the media on the party's "vision document" on Thursday afternoon, at the same time as Mr Shah's meeting with BJP workers.
The alliance has seen bitter squabbling over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra elections due later this year. After their massive victory in the national election in May, the BJP has been demanding more seats on grounds that a 'Mode wave' powered the sweep; the alliance won 42 of Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats, reducing the Nationalist Congress Party to four and the Congress to two seats.
The Sena hit back through editorials in their mouthpiece Saamna, warning the BJP against complacence after the less than favourable results in last month's by-polls.
In the 2009 state polls, the Sena contested 169 of 288 seats while the BJP was given 119 seats. But now the BJP wants the Sena to part with about 15-20 seats for other allies. The tug-of-war has been intense as the Chief Minister's post is first offered to the party that wins more seats.