BJP-Sena talks stuck over deputy chief minister’s post for Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, September 30

Impasse continues between Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena over seat sharing, with the latter insisting that Aaditya Thackeray be given the post of deputy chief minister should the saffron alliance return to power in Maharashtra, sources say.

The BJP is wary of the younger Thackeray’s entry the electoral fray, which is likely to upset the political calculations of all the major players in Maharashtra politics, the sources say.  The Shiv Sena on Sunday told reporters off-the-record that Thackeray would contest from its stronghold Worli. The party has however not made any formal statement even as there are reports that as many as 11 sitting MLAs have been given the AB forms to file their nominations.

Officially, the Shiv Sena says a statement would be issued by party chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP’s leaders.

”BJP is likely to give the Shiv Sena just around 124-126 seats (in the 288-member state legislature),” a party leader from Mumbai said.

The entry of Aaditya Thackeray— the first from the family to contest an election—is aimed to galvanising the party’s cadre and helping garner as many seats as possible to help the Shiv Sena get a better bargain after the elections, according to political observers.

Neither Bal Thackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena, nor his son Uddhav have contested elections though Shalini Thackeray, the wife of the latter’s cousin Jeetendra, unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections as a candidate for the MNS.

According to sources, BJP leaders have been locked in meetings till late Sunday night and through most of Monday to finalise the tie-up with the Shiv Sena.

Last week, Uddhav Thackeray piled on pressure on the BJP by stating that he had made a promise to his father that a Shiv Sainik would be installed as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.