New Delhi: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will on Tuesday hold a meeting with top party leaders amid simmering tension between Shiv Sainiks over denial of tickets. Many Shiv Sena leaders are leaving the party across several districts in Maharashtra for its pre-poll alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra Assembly election. In Tuesday's meeting, Uddhav is expected to speak to the upset Shiv Sainiks who are threatening to quit the party if they fail to get ticket to contest the upcoming Assembly election.
In Navi Mumbai, more than two hundred local leaders resigned from Shiv Sena as Airoli and Belapur Assembly seats have been allotted to BJP as part of the alliance. The two parties on Monday announced that they will contest the Assembly election, to be held on October 21, in alliance. However, the seat-sharing formula is yet to be disclosed.
There are 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly. It was earlier said that BJP is unwilling to give more than 120 seats to Shiv Sena, who has repeatedly maintained that it will not settle down for less than 126 seats and the position of deputy chief minister.
After a central election committee meeting of the BJP on Monday, it is expected that BJP will give Sena 124 seats and some seats will be left for smaller parties like Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India (RPI).
Meanwhile, Udhav's son Aaditya Thackeray will enter the political fray from Worli seat, thus becoming the first person from the Thackeray family to contest election. According to sources, Aaditya will file his nomination papers on October 3 while the last date to file for nomination has been set as October 4 by the Election Commission of India.
Maharashtra votes on October 21, along with Haryana. The counting of votes in both the states is scheduled for October 24.
