Only "Sena-wave" in Maharashtra: Shiv Sena

Amid speculations that Shiv Sena now might be contesting the upcoming Maharashtra Asembly elections, due next month independently, BJP President Amit Shah arrived in country’s commercial capital to hold consultations and end the stand-off over seat sharing scheduled for Wednesday evening.

However ahead of the meeting, the Sena has sent its grand coalition partner a warning – that if BJP tries “high-handedness” again this time, they will in turn are going to receive the “cold shoulder”.

Shiv sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday is reported by NDTV to have said that they will contest in more seats and the Chief Ministerial candidate will also be from their party.

He said, “Chief Minister will be from Shiv Sena and we will contest more seats”.

Taking a dig at BJP, Raut stressed that even when one is victorious, he should be humble and grounded.

Giving reaction to BJP’s latest setback by-elections results declared on Tuesday, Sena leader said, “People didn't accept BJP's 'love jihad' campaign, they want development.”

In spite of clarifying that it would be unfair to connect the loss to Modi, Raut at the same time said, BJP must understand that Modi-wave wont alone work in Maharashtra. Raut reiterated, there is only one wave in Maharashtra - Sena wave.

Shiv Sena’s comments came at a time, when BJP is reeling under huge setback in the by-elections held last Saturday.

The party lost ground in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The future of BJP-Shiv Sena’s grand old alliance of arrived at tenterhooks over seat-sharing logjam which has hogged limelight for past couple of weeks.

Despite stiff opposition from Sena, BJP kept on demanding that two parties should contest in 135 seats apiece out of the 288 Assembly seats, leaving 18 seats for their smaller allies. 

In the 2009 state polls, the Sena contested 169 of 288 seats while the BJP was given 119 seats.

BJP also demanded the chief ministerial post.

The reason behind saffron party's demand is the "Modi magic" which engulfed the nation four months ago during the Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won 42 LS seats in Maharashtra out of the total 48.

Of them BJP won 23 while the Sena won 18.

But both of these demands were turned down by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Reacting to this, BJP stepped up the pressure on its alliance partner making it clear that failure to comply will mean BJP might go alone in polls.

But instead of bowing down to pressure, the Sena made it clear that equal seat-sharing with its decade old-ally is not possible.

Shiv Sena made it clear that excessive lust leads to divorce and the allies in a coalition must dream of a victory first.

Attacking the coalition partner in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, the Sena chief reiterated that his party is not going to “compromise” on seat-sharing.

Now with the BJP caught on the backfoot after the by-poll results, Sena in a twist of tale have increased the pressure.

Just when Amit Shah landed in Mumbai for talks, firing a fresh salvo in the Saamna, Shiv Sena has said, “The by-election results are a lesson for the Maharashtra elections.

Giving a "wake-up" warning to its 25-year old coaltion partner, Sena has said, Don’t let success go to your head, keep your feet on the ground.”

“BJP leaders need to have their feet planted firmly on the ground. It's still not too late…If BJP leaders in Maharashtra are still banking on the Modi wave, I wish them luck,” said Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam.

It has been learnt, on Wednesday a meeting was held at Shiv Sena’s Dadar office where party chief Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders including district heads Taluka heads were present to discuss strategy and possibility of alliance with the saffron party. 

According to sources, the Sainiks are now contemplating contesting elections on its own instead of continuing the alliance with the BJP, if they doesn’t agree to 125 seat-shares.