BJP and Shiv Sena settle differences, seal seat-sharing pact for BMC polls

The BJP and Shiv Sena have sealed a seat-sharing formula for the polls to Asia’s richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is scheduled for January, said Maharashtra BJP chief Ravindra Chavan on Friday.In the 277-member BMC, the BJP is likely to contest 130 to 140 seats, while the DCM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will contest 80 to 90 seats. The remaining seats will be given to other partners in the Mahayuti including the DCM Ajit Pawar-led NCP.The seat-sharing arrangements were discussed in a meeting in which Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Shinde, Chavan and revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule were present. Later, Chavan held a meeting with Fadnavis. Then he flew to Delhi to meet Shah, where the decision was sealed.Bawankule, a senior BJP leader, had said earlier that instructions will be given to local leaders to sit together and start discussions on seat sharing. “We are confident that 90 per cent of the issues will be resolved at the local level, while any remaining issues will be resolved at state level. We decided that there will be four representatives from each party who are empowered to discuss the issues,” he said. The truce between the two parties comes after their relationship had hit rough weather ahead of the local body elections earlier this month, with the BJP poaching several Sena workers in the constituency of Eknath Shinde’s son and Lok Sabha MP Dr Shrikant Shinde in Kalyan and Dombivali.



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