The tussle over seat sharing for the BMC election continues in the Mahayuti camp, with the BJP coming up with a fresh formula that gives Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena more seats than its initial offer but is nowhere close to the party’s wishlist.
In the initial meeting of the coalition, the Shinde Sena had demanded 125 seats. The BJP’s counteroffer was 52. Now, after a meeting on Monday night, the BJP’s fresh offer is approaching 90, sources said. But Shinde, who has scaled down his demand to 112, is not happy and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will hold another round of discussion with him to resolve the issue, sources said.
The BJP is not likely to back down further, especially after their stellar performance in the statewide local polls. The party has emerged as the single largest, bagging 117 posts of municipal presidents. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena won 53, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP won 37.
The current calculations, though, will have to be scrapped and the parties will be back to the drawing board if Ajit Pawar finally decides to contest as part of the alliance.
Confirming that nothing has yet been decided, senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare said, “Tomorrow Ajit Dada and Praful Patel are in Mumbai. A decision regarding the same will be taken tomorrow”.
“We have discussed the matter with the Chief Minister. At some places we are trying to get an alliance… I also spoke to Aashish Shelar,” he added.
The hurdle here is over the question over party veteran Nawab Malik, who is facing a clutch of corruption cases, including one of money laundering linked to the activities of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his gang.
While the Mahayuti has made it clear that they would not like having Malik under their banner, Ajit Pawar is said to be firm on backing the leader.
“If Nawab Malik is their (NCP) leader, then we won’t be with them. He has serious allegations against him, and we won’t ally with them,” Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam has said. If the NCP is to join the alliance in Mumbai, they must present a new face other than Nawab Malik and settle for only 10 to 14 seats, sources in the BJP have said.
The countdown to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections has already started, with less than a month left before voting. The date announced was January 15 and the counting will take place the next day.
A total of 2,869 municipal seats will be up for grabs, including 227 BMC seats.