Shiv Sena

BJP

BMC

Pramod Mahajan

Devendra Fadnavis

This is the first time that the party has sought names for all 227 seats , not taking into account the seats that will have to be left for its alliance partnerThe Bharatiya Janata Party’s () list of probable candidates for all 227 seats in theelections is ready, one of the clearest indications yet that the party may have made up its mind to ditch alliance partner Shiv Sena and go it alone in the February 2017 polls.The party’s district presidents submitted the list of probable candidates to city unit chief Ashish Shelar late last week. This is the first time that the party has openly sought names for all 227 seats across the city, not taking into account the seats that will have to be left for the Sena in case the alliance continues.As part of its exercise to be ready to contest all 227 seats, all district presidents have been asked to form election committees for every ward, each comprising 13 members. Each member will be assigned specific duties like campaigning, fund collection, publicity, and taking charge of booth and voters’ list.The district presidents have been asked to prepare ward-wise election manifestos, taking into account local issues. The district presidents are expected to complete the exercise of forming the election committees by the end of the week.Both the Shiv Sena and the BJP have dropped hints of severing ties before every key election, but BJP sources said that this time a section of its leaders from the city, including 15 legislators, had made the strongest case yet to go it alone.The main reason for pushing for a split is the seats sharing formula which has not changed since the 1990s. The agreement, brokered by Bal Thackeray and, gives the BJP only 63 seats to contest out of the total 227, effectively ruling out the party’s chance to stake claim to the mayor’s post.BJP legislators from Mumbai have already told their leadership that the tie-up with the Shiv Sena should be snapped if the Uddhav Thackeray-led party doesn't agree to offer them 100 seats. If Uddhav accepts the deal, he would be giving the BJP a 58 per cent hike in its seat quota.In the 2012 BMC elections, Sena contested 135 seats, while BJP got only 63. The rest were left for smaller alliance partners like the Republican Party of India. “Now that we have sought names for all 227 seats, it will be very difficult to tell people that more than half of them won’t get a ticket. If we get to fight only 80 odd seats, there will be a backlash since we have aspirants for 227 seats,” said a senior BJP corporator who did not wish to be identified.A BJP legislator said the demand for more seats is in sync with the party’s performance in Mumbai in the 2014 assembly elections. “We emerged as the largest party with 15 seats. Though Sena was not far behind with 14, we should be allowed to contest at least 100 seats in the BMC elections,” he said. Explaining the numbers, the legislator said each assembly constituency comprises six wards. “Going by that calculation, our default quota should be 90, and they must give us 10 more seats as a bonus.” Anything less than 100, he said, would be deal-breaker.However, Chief Ministeris keen to keep the tie-up intact, said a source. “At stake is not just the future of the party in BMC elections, but the state government’s stability too,” the source said. The Shiv Sena is a part of the Fadnavis-led government in the state. A section of Sena leaders too believes that the tie-up with the BJP for BMC elections may have outlived its utility. A senior Sena leader, who didn't want to be named, said that while his party does not want to break the alliance, there is no chance of the party agreeing to give the BJP more than 90 seats.While the BJP’s city unit chief Ashish Shelar was not available for comment on Tuesday, he has maintained that though no talks with the Sena have begun, a decision on the alliance will be taken by Fadnavis.Former legislator and Mumbai BJP spokesman Atul Shah too said the decision on continuing the alliance will be taken by the state leadership.