Seat-sharing row: BJP unsatisfied with Uddhav's 'final formula', alliance crisis deepens

Addressing party workers in Mumbai, Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray said, "There is a tug of war in the alliance. What is happening right before elections is unfortunate. Seat distribution is a complicated affair."

• Will talk to Shiv Sena, want alliance to continue. Want to discuss the seats that Sena have not won in years: Vinod Tawde.
• We want the alliance to continue. It is the duty of both parties to maintain the alliance, says BJP
• We have always worked to save the alliance, BJP has sacrificed but they (Shiv Sena) dont compromise on their front: Eknath Khadse
• You don't discuss these things through media, these things are discussed face to face, says Tawde
• The final formula we want to give we will give in person: Vinod Tawde
• Seats they (Shiv Sena) haven't won in 25 years need to be re-distributed, says Khadse. 
• Shiv Sena did not compromise on the seats that they gave us, we just want the seats that they never win: Eknath Khadse.
• Seat sharing needs to be such that Cong is defeated, such issues need to be discussed face to face, says Tawde.
• BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is very old, should be taken forward. And if alliance needs to be maintained there is no last formula, says BJP leader Vinod Tawde.
• BJP holds a counter press conference in Mumbai.
• ​Shiv Sena chief concludes his speech. 
• Uddhav Thackeray reminds PM Narendra Modi that late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had supported him after Gujarat riots.
• 151 seats for Shiv Sena, 119 for BJP and rest 18 for others-Last formula to be offered by Shiv Sena to save alliance: Uddhav Thackeray.
• There is a tug of war in the alliance. What is happening right before elections is unfortunate. Seat distribution is a complicated affair, says Sena chief.
• We are making last effort to save the alliance: Uddhav Thackeray.
• Many faces have been unmasked during polls time, have taken a decision, will announce it soon, says Uddhav Thackeray. 
• Party workers have given me authority to take a decision and I'll do it with responsibility, keeping everything in mind: Uddhav Thackeray.
• Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray addresses party workers in Mumbai.

In the backdrop of the ongoing seat sharing battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray held an executive meeting in Mumbai.

After saving their 25-year alliance from splitting on Friday, the BJP and the Shiv Sena are yet to reach an agreement on seat-sharing for the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly Elections.

Yesterday, Shiv Sena and BJP leaders, in a detailed meeting  tried to end the tangle over seat-sharing for Maharashtra Assembly polls but failed to reach an agreement.

The two oldest NDA allies, however, insisted they did not want the alliance to come apart.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said Shiv Sena has proposed to contest 155 seats, leaving 125 for BJP, while the remaining of state's 288 seats would go to the smaller allies.

However, rejecting Sena's proposal, Tawde said, "This is unacceptable to us." 

This formula would now be finalized at a separate meeting between BJP state president Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, he had announced.

September 27 is the deadline for filing of nominations for the October 15 polls.

"There will be a clarity on the alliance issue in the next 24 hours," Tawde had said.

After days of frosty silence, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had on Friday night sent his 24-year-old son Aditya Thackeray and senior leader Subhash Desai for talks with BJP's Maharashtra election incharge OP Mathur and then sent a seat-sharing formula to the ally.

Later, state BJP core committee members considered the proposal holding two rounds of meetings where Mathur and party general secretary incharge of Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy were present.

Shiv Sena had also said a decision on the alliance may be taken today.

If accepted by both sides, the final tally would be 155 for the Sena, 117 for the BJP and 16 for the smaller partners in the 288-member assembly.

On Friday, the Sena had proposed 119 for BJP and 169 for Sena, including the share of the alliance partners, which the BJP rejected.

Tawde did not comment whether the latest proposal was acceptable to the BJP but merely said it would be discussed further between Fadnavis and Thackeray.

It is also not clear whether, in the revised proposal, the Sena has taken into account the BJP's demand that both parties should retain the seats which they have won at least once in the past and carry out a review of the seats they had never bagged.

This works out 110 seats with the Sena and 100 for BJP which each have bagged at least once in the past elections.

Another 78 seats - 59 seats which Sena has never bagged and 19 which BJP has never won would figure in the final discussions besides the share of the other smaller partners in the alliance.

Insisting on an alliance with "dignity and respect", the BJP had said it was talking about sharing the 78-odd seats which neither the SS nor the BJP has ever won.

With agency inputs