Shiv Sena on Sunday made it clear that it won't make any more concession for BJP, offering to cede it only 119 out of the total 288 seats in Maharashtra Assembly for the next month's polls, and said this was "the final attempt" to break the logjam over seat-sharing.
With an eye on assembly elections after severe drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on Wednesday approved 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and five per cent for Muslims in government jobs and education institutions.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah on Thursday described the upcoming assembly elections as the second leg of the party's "Congress free India movement."
Even as its chief Uddhav Thackeray accompanied the Prime Minister for 'jal pujan' ceremony of Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial, Shiv Sena on Saturday appeared unhappy with ally BJP, alleging that it has "hijacked" the occasion to take political benefit.
The 25-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance split on Thursday amid continued deadlock over seat-sharing for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly polls.
"We realised that we don't have the required numbers to form the government and we don't want to indulge in horse-trading," Fadnavis told reporters after announcing his decision.
Hours after the Nationalist Congress Party rubbished rumours of making a pact with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the saffron party on Wednesday also ruled out the possibility of taking support from the Sharad Pawar-led outfit.
A day after the split in the saffron alliance, Shiv Sena on Friday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party, calling it the "enemy of Maharashtra", signaling a return to its original pro-Marathi agenda for next month's assembly polls.
Attempting to break the deadlock in seat-sharing talks for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party will send a fresh proposal to the Shiv Sena even as it said it would like to contest seats its saffron ally had not won in years.
Seeking to downplay speculation that it was reviewing its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the bond between the two parties was "strong" and there was need for worry.
In a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, senior Congress leader and Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane on Sunday said the Gujarat chief minister is a "liar" and "devoid of human values".
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar trashed Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray's claim that he blocked his entry into the National Democratic Alliance, dubbing it the "joke of the year" made out of "frustration".
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd started hacking trees from Friday night to make way for a car shed, hours after the Bombay high court dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision to allow felling of trees in the prime green lung of the city.
The 25-year-old saffron alliance in Maharashtra is hurtling towards a break up with the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders walking out of a meeting with their Shiv Sena interlocutors that was called to discuss seat-sharing for Maharashtra assembly polls.
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
Political observers feel that the outcome of the elections weighs in favour of the BJP which had won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, held earlier this year.
Stating that long-standing ties with its saffron ally have been normalised, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi have assured him that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will not be included in the 'mahayuti' (grand alliance).
Continuing to target former Bharatiya Janata chief Party Nitin Gadkari over his plea to Raj Thackeray not to field candidates in Lok Sabha polls, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said former is a "businessman, who has inked a deal with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief."
The ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra clarified on Sunday that it had received no proposal from the Congress for a merger nor did it have any such plan in the run-up to the election to the 288-member state assembly slated for September-October.
With no clarity yet on seat sharing with old ally Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Thursday told the alliance partner to find a quick resolution to the impasse while making it clear that there will be no compromise at the cost of self-respect.
The OBC face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and former deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde, who had joined the Union Cabinet for the first time a week back, was all set to spearhead the party's campaign in the upcoming assembly polls in the state to wrest power from the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.
Citing a recent court verdict, Shiv Sena on Saturday said, "Excessive lust leads to divorce" and asked the constituents of 'Mahayuti' alliance to exercise restraint while demanding extra share during seat allocation talks.
Hitting back at Narendra Modi, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said the Congress party wanted him to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Nanded due to the anti-incumbency factor and that he had the backing of his family including sitting MP and brother-in-law Bhaskarrao Patil.
Daughters of the late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde are in the poll arena contesting from the Parli assembly and Beed Lok Sabha constituencies in a bid to retain their father's political legacy.
Going on the offensive, the Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday gave Congress a day to revert on the issue of seat-sharing for the October 15 assembly polls in Maharashtra, saying it will "wait a day longer".
'"It is not corruption, but destruction that we fear. We fear for our lives and the BJP has not been able to convince us otherwise," Muslims and Dalits tell me.' Does a high turnout indicate anti-incumbency or does it indicate minority consolidation against a particular leader or party? Neeta Kolhatkar explains the situation in Maharashtra.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena were on Sunday trying to make last ditch efforts to salvage their alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly polls after the Uddhav Thackeray's final offer of giving 119 seats to the coalition partner was rejected.
Further hardening his stand on seat-sharing with Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said he has rejected the saffron ally's demand for contesting 135 seats in Maharashtra assembly polls and hinted at going it alone, saying "everything has an alternative".
Pankaja Munde -- who lit the funeral pyre of her father Gopinath Munde on Wednesday at his ancestral village of Parli in Maharasthra along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party general secretary Amit Shah -- will lead the the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
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