Minor allies want more seats, BJP-Sena talks deadlocked again

The Shiv Sena-BJP seat-sharing talks in Maharashtra hit a fresh crisis on Wednesday with three minor parties threatening to walk out of the 'Mahayuti' alliance.

The Shiv Sena-BJP seat-sharing talks in Maharashtra hit a fresh crisis on Wednesday with three minor parties threatening to walk out of the 'Mahayuti' alliance.

The two parties offered 7 seats to the smaller partners as against the 18 demanded by them prompting the Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Shivsangram to contest separately.

If this happens, it would be bad news for the Sena-BJP as they could create trouble for them in western and central Maharashtra.

With just three more days to end the nomination process, the BJP is using the opportunity to put pressure on the Sena to concede five more seats.

A meeting of the alliance leaders held in Mumbai on Tuesday night remained inconclusive with the junior members insisting on more seats and expressing their displeasure over the 151 for Shiv Sena, 130 for BJP and seven for allies seat-sharing formula proposed by the Sena.

The saffron combine has four junior partners -- Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha led by Mahadeo Janker, Vinayak Mete's Shivsangram and Ramdas Athawale's RPI(A).

"If the Sena distributes seven seats among four alliance partners, it will be an insult to us. Sena and BJP can fight elections on all 288 seats and satisfy their egos," Shetti said.

Meanwhile BJP president Amit Shah postponed his Mumbai visit to Thursday after the two sides failed to reach an acceptable solution.

He was expected to discuss the alliance tangle with senior state BJP leaders, party sources had said earlier.