Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has revealed the inside story of how the alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena crumbled in 2014, pinning it on Shiv Sena's then-leader Uddhav Thackeray's insistence on 151 seats.
Fadnavis, while speaking at a felicitation ceremony for Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur, narrated the crucial political event which eventually culminated in the split of Shiv Sena in 2019. "It was decided that Shiv Sena would contest in 147 seats and the BJP would field candidates in 127. It was decided that the Chief Minister would be from our side, while the Deputy Chief Minister would be from Shiv Sena," Fadnavis said. He added that the BJP was willing to compromise to maintain the alliance, but the deal wasn't good enough for Shiv Sena, which insisted on 151 seats.
Though talks were held, they broke down because Shiv Sena was unwilling to budge on their seat demands, which created an irreconcilable difference between the two parties.
He said the decisions were made by the BJP's central leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, after BJP leaders, including Om Prakash Mathur, escalated the matter to them.
Watch: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis reveals for the first time the inside story behind the 2014 split of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance
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He says, "We often talk about Chanakya's strategy, but we truly understand its essence when we see it in action. I had studied it before, but I… pic.twitter.com/O4t72JPDk8
"Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the Prime Minister, and it was decided that the alliance could continue only if the formula was 127 for BJP and 147 for Shiv Sena," Fadnavis said, repeating how the BJP tried all ways to find a common ground for the alliance to continue but failed.
"Both Amit Shah and Omprakash Madhur were confident that we could fight unitedly, but nobody else was. We gave an ultimatum to Shiv Sena that if you are going to fight on 147, we are with you. We will fight on 127 seats. Both parties will benefit and get elected together," Fadnavis said.
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He equated the next fight to that of Mahabharata, stating that "Yuvraj" of Shiv Sena said not a single seat would be reduced from 151. "They came as Kauravas who will not give us five villages. But, we had Shri Krishna with us. A battle took place, I was campaigning with the support of Om Prakash Mathur and Amit Shah. We had the credibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bank on. For the first time, we contested in all 260 seats. Before that, we never fielded candidates in more than 117 seats," he said.
The Chief Minister said the BJP has since then emerged as the single largest party, the only one in Maharashtra in 30 years to cross 100. "All credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Om Prakash Matur," Fadnavis added.
