The party has gone for broke, betting that the Narendra Modi magic will work on an emerging aspirational urban middle class, cutting across castes and geographical constraints in one of the most urbanised Indian states. It believes that with Modi campaigning for the party in Maharashtra, it will be able to reach close to the majority mark of 145 seats. Surveys commissioned by the BJP have predicted 120 seats for the party, if it fights the polls alone.
"And this is what the Shiv Sena was willing to offer us. When the party's surveys at ground level were so positive, how could we be happy contesting just 119-120 seats? We did not want to be the big brother in the alliance but an equal one. Sena remained inflexible," said a BJP member involved in negotiations with the Sena.
In hindsight, there was always a Plan B in case talks broke down.
BJP president Amit Shah took the final call on breaking off the alliance with the Sena on Thursday morning after overnight discussions between representatives of both parties held at the Thackeray residence, Matoshree, failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Shah called up Maharashtra BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis and conveyed the decision of the central leadership that there was no more time to be wasted with only two days left to file nominations for the October 15 election. BJP had already sounded potential candidates, in case the party had to contest all the seats without Sena support. BJP members said Shah had been ready with Plan B for the past three weeks.
He cancelled his own scheduled visit to Mumbai to make a last-ditch attempt to save the alliance and instead decided to go and meet the ailing Arun Jaitley at a south Delhi hospital. Shah had spoken to senior party members including Nitin Gadkari before the final decision. Gadkari had been pushing the party to fight alone in the state.
According to BJP members, it was clear by then that the Shiv Sena was not in a mood to budge from its demand for 151 seats.
"Everything was leading to a break-up. The state unit of the BJP was in no mood to play second fiddle to the Sena anymore. After the Lok Sabha showing, party leaders expected to do very well in the state," said a senior BJP worker.
'Marathi Asmita' issue not Shiv Sena's monopoly: BJP
PUNE: Amid indication of Shiv Sena aggressively pushing its original "sons-of-the-soil" agenda in run up to the polls, BJP on Friday asserted that 'marathi asmita' and king Shivaji could not be monopolised by its estranged ally or any other party.
"Pride of Mumbai and Marathi is not the monopoly of Sena or Eknath Khadse Eknath Khadse . This issue is whipped up to garner votes. We are a national party but we too have fought for Marathi," BJP sevak Eknath Khadse said. "It was Atal Bihari who named Mumbai's airport after Chhatrapati Shivaji and inaugurated a Shivaji statue in front of Parliament House," he said.
Sena offering me Deputy CM post: Ramdas Athawale
MUMBAI: Republican Party of India (A) president Ramdas Athawale on Friday claimed he has been offered the post of Maharashtra Deputy CM by Shiv Sena if it came to power, but he was yet to decide on a tie-up with the saffron outfit for the October 15 Assembly polls. Athawale, who heads the largest faction of nearly half-a- dozen RPI groups, said the offer was made by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. "Uddhavji has requested me to form an alliance with his party and in return has offered me the position of Deputy Chief Minister if the Sena manages to form the government after the Assembly polls," he said.
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