MUMBAI: Senior leaders of Shiv Sena and BJP today held joint parleys here to discuss an alliance for the ensuing civic elections. "The talks, held tonight, were preliminary in nature. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will discuss the issue further in a day or two," Sena MP Anil Desai told PTI.
With barely 35 days left for the election of corporators for BMC, the country's richest civic body, there is no word yet on an alliance between the bickering allies in the state government. In the 2012 civic election, the Sena contested 158 seats and won 75, whereas the BJP contested 69 and won 32 seats. However, in the 2014 Assembly election, the BJP emerged as the number one party in Mumbai. Of 36 seats, the BJP won 15 seats, while the Sena won 14 seats.
This, and the recent results of municipal council polls have led BJP leaders to demand more seats than last time, if an alliance were to happen. Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar last week said his party is 'positive' about an alliance with ally Shiv Sena, ahead of the upcoming local bodies polls, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
"We are positive on the issue of an alliance with Shiv Sena," Shelar had said after discussing the alliance issue with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' at the latter's official residence 'Varsha' in south Mumbai. Ten municipal corporations including Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur, 25 Zilla Parishads and 283 Panchayat Samitis are scheduled to go to polls next month.