Uddhav Thackeray calls meeting to discuss poll preparedness

Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has convened a key meeting with party office-bearers Saturday to discuss the party’s preparations for the October 21 Assembly polls in Maharashtra. Prominent Sena leaders, office-bearers and ticket aspirants will attend the meeting, a party release said Friday.

District and taluka-level party chiefs and aspirants who were interviewed for poll tickets have been invited for the meeting, the release said. Party sources said that the Sena is prepping to contest all 288 Assembly seats in case its alliance talks with the BJP fail.

The Sena meet comes on the backdrop of state BJP leaders Thursday holding discussions with the central leadership in New Delhi to assess poll preparedness for all seats. Senior state BJP leaders, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and party state president Chandrakant Patil, were present at this meeting, sources said.

The BJP and Sena are locked in hard bargaining for distribution of seats among themselves and smaller partners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP is said to be offering a maximum of 120 seats to the Sena.

However, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is insisting on an equal distribution of seats and sharing of the chief minister’s post for 2.5 years, each, in the event the
saffron allies retain power. A Sena leader had earlier said that the party was willing to accept 135 seats.