Tracking the latest as the two major alliances in Maharashtra battle it out with each other ahead of the polls.

10.45 pm: Surprise by the timing of NCP's announcement: Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today took a dig on former alliance partner NCP expressing surprise on the timing of the regional outfit's decision to break away from the Congress. The NCP made the announcement of parting ways from the Congress soon after the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance ended.

"NCP announced its decision to break ties with us immediately after Shiv Sena-BJP parted ways and it is a curious coincidence. I think there will be a new alliance in the offing," said Chavan at a press conference in Mumbai.

"Since the BJP formed the government at the Centre, our only aim has been to stop communal forces from coming to power in the state. We also did not want divide secular votes. In yesterday’s meeting the NCP, for the first time, made its claim on the post of chief minister. So, it seems that the NCP has broken ties with us for its benefits and not in the interest of state," the chief minister said.

10.30 pm: Parted ways but still friends with Shiv Sena, says BJP

"It is very unfortunate that we have to part ways after 25 years of journey. We have seen lots of ups and downs with Shiv Sena and we have braved them boldly for the last 25 years," BJP general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy told PTI.

"Reluctantly, we have to part ways as there is a severe constraint of time as all nominations for 288 seats which will include our smaller alliance partners has to be accomplished by 27 September, the deadline for nominations fixed by the Election Commission," said the BJP leader who spearheaded the talks with Shiv Sena along with party's election in-charge of the state Om Mathur.

"We are committed that even if we are parting ways there will be no bitterness whatsoever between our old partners and the sole consideration of these elections is to get rid of NCP-Congress regime which has unleashed years of misgovernance and corruption," he said.

PTI

8.00 pm: Now, NCP ends ties with Congress

It is official and all uncertainties have come to an end. Soon after BJP snapped ties with the Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party followed suit and called off its 15-year-old alliance with the Congress.

"For the past 15 years in Maharashtra and after 2004 at the Centre, we have been with the Congress. We have an alliance. We established the NCP in 1999 and during that time we took a different stand in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. During that time, the circumstances were such that the state government could not have been formed if both the parties had not come together. NCP has always advocated for a secular government both at the Centre and in the state," NCP leader Praful Patel said at a press conference in Mumbai.

"And because of that ideology we went for a tie-up with the Congress although we did fought against each other. In 2004, NCP maintained a stand that there has to be a progressive and secular government at the Centre. The NCP has always supported the Congress very responsibly. In the past 15 years, all our party workers, MLAs, MPs have supported the Congress responsibly," he said.

"In these past 15 years, no matter what the conditions were, the Congress always got the post of the chief minister. This time Sharad Pawar met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and told her that they wanted to ally with the Congress. Almost a month back, Sharad Pawar, Ahmed Patel, AK Antony and myself met in Delhi. We had told the Congress that NCP has emerged as a stronger and wider party than the Congress. At that point of time, Congress said that they have more strength in Lok Sabha," the NCP leader said.

"We are not insisting on the basis of the results of Lok Sabha polls. If you analyse the strength of the NCP in Maharashtra it is stronger than the Congress. Congress needs to take this into consideration. We have told the Congress party that we need to solve the problem as soon as possible but no one took heed," Patel said.

"Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre had said Congress will give 124 seats to NCP which we clearly said that we are not going to accept. We told them Congress has been occupying the chief minister's post for 15 years and this time we should share it," the NCP leader said. "If they did not agree with our proposals we told them to present their proposal. We have seen many proposals in the media but we wanted an official proposal from the Congress but it never came. There was not a single official meeting in the matter after the meeting in Delhi. The Congress' first list of candidates had names of some of the seats on which we were having a discussion," the NCP leader said.

Trying to put the onus on the Congress for breaking the alliance, Patel said, "NCP has not done a single thing which would hurt the alliance at the Centre and in the state. Now NCP will look for like-minded parties to fight the polls under the leadership of Sharad Pawar."

Addressing the press meet NCP Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare expressed displeasure with the Congress for going ahead with its first list without consultation.

"A coalition partner usually discusses with the allies before publishing a list. This is a poll tradition. Congress did not even bother to inform us and came out with the list. The NCP will form a alliance with parties which are like-minded," Tatkare said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar while thanking the people of Maharashtra for the support said that his party will inform the governor that his party is withdrawing support from the government.

"I want to tell the people of Maharashtra that we are withdrawing support from the state government. We will inform the Governor of the state. I thank the people of Maharashtra for keeping the faith in us and for supporting us," Pawar said.

7.15 pm: People of Maharashtra to decide who will serve them and not themselves: Congress

Soon after the news of breakdown of talks and then the final snapping of ties between BJP and Shiv Sena became official, the Congress was quick to make the most of the opportunity.

"One coalition held the course for 15 years. On the other side is a bunch of squabbling political parties who are fighting just before the polls. It is for the people of Maharashtra to judge who is there to serve them and who is there to serve themselves," Congress leader Manish Tewari told CNN-IBN.

6.05 pm: BJP ends ties with Shiv Sena

After days of uncertainty, the Bharatiya Janata Party has officially snapped ties with its 25-year-long Shiv Sena as no compromise could be reached on the seat sharing formula.

"Negotiations went on for so long that it only created an atmosphere of distrust. The Shiv Sena never showed any flexibility in their stand. They were adamant with their proposals and wanted us to accommodate accordingly. Options offered by Shiv Sena were not acceptable as they did not care for the smaller parties of the alliance. We cannot deceive our smaller partners and we told Shiv Sena that we need to take them along," Maharashtra BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis told a press conference in Mumbai.

The state BJP chief said that the BJP wanted to put the NCP-Congress combine out of power in Maharashtra.

"It is painful to part ways with a 25-year-old long alliance partner but limitations put forth by time is inevitable. We will always have friendly sentiments towards Shiv Sena. We are not going to criticise that party. If someone does it we should not respond to that. The last date to file nominations is quite near and we can't allow Congress-NCP to take advantage of the uncertainty," Fadnavis said.

He also said that the party will go ahead and fight the forthcoming Assembly polls together with the remaining four smaller parties of the alliance. "This mahayuti will sustain and we will fight the polls with these partners," Fadnavis said.

Similar views were given by senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse as well at the beginning of the press meet.

"We have been holding talks with our partners for the past few days. But there has been no outcome. Shiv Sena has been stubborn over seat sharing," Khadse said.

5.55 pm: Aditya Thackeray becomes emotional, expresses his feelings on Twitter

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5.50 pm: Uddhav, Aditya to address rally in Mumbai on 27 September

In a press release, the Shiv Sena said that the party would to launch its election campaign on Saturday. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, his son and Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray and other senior Sena leaders will address the rally at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse Ground at 6 pm on 27 September.

All Sena candidates will file their nomination papers by 27 September, the party said in the statement.

4.30 pm: Congress calls off alliance with NCP?

Sources have told NDTV that the Congress feels that "there is no time left for alliance with NCP".

3.51 pm: No one told us about the end of an alliance, says Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena is now saying that no one told them about the end of the alliance. So does this mean that there is still hope for Mahayuti, or is the Shiv Sena playing the wronged 'jilted' party role in this divorce?

One Shiv Sena leader speaking to the media said, "We feel sad that the BJP didn't meet with us and instead spoke to Uddhav Thackeray. They were supposed to come with us to meet him. We have spoken about a final proposal about seat sharing."

Curiouser and curiouser. What else will this day bring forth? We'll soon find out.

3.45 pm: BJP says they are still waiting for Shiv Sena proposal

The BJP has declined to confirm the end of the Mahayuti alliamce. BJP Maharashtra chief Devendra Fadnavis just told the media that they were waiting for the Shiv Sena to send a proposal that was acceptable to all parties.

So is it all over or not? At this point no one wants to confirm anything.

Firstpost editor Sanjay Singh said earlier, that neither party wanted to take the blame for the split. Is this what we are seeing?

3.15 pm: It's officially over, says media

It's apparently all over. The 25-year-old Mahayuti alliance has come to an end.

News channels are all quoting party sources as saying that both BJP and Shiv Sena officials have confirmed that the grand alliance or 'Mahayuti' is finally over and both the parties will contest the Maharashtra assembly polls alone. Apparently the final stuicking point had been over the Chief Ministerial post.

According to the Times Now news channel, the Shiv Sena had been insistent that Uddhav Thackeray was portrayed as the CM candidate before the parties went to the polls, and the BJP was not willing to accept the condition.

Earlier a seat sharing disagreement had stretched ties to breaking point. The BJP had been insistent on no less than 130 seats and the Shiv Sena was not wiling to come down below 151.

An official announcement on the split is expected to be made shortly.

But is all lost? There is still scope for a post poll alliance, say political pundits.

In an earlier post, Firstpost had said that the BJP and Shiv Sena could still decide to break the 25-year-old Mahayuti alliance and embark on their own along with smaller players like the Republican Party of India (RPI), Raju Shetty’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS), Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and Shivasangram.

The BJP, which has traditionally been contesting rural seats in Maharashtra leaving the urban seats to the Shiv Sena, would want to capitalize on the ‘Modi wave’ in urban pockets of Maharashtra.

You can read the full article here.

2.12 pm: BJP-Sena alliance not over yet?

A report in the Zee News contradicts all other news reports. Updated an hour ago, the report quoted senior leaders of both BJP and Shiv Sena as saying that the alliance is not over yet and talks are still underway.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh confirmed that the discussion are still on over seat sharing for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly polls. Shiv Sena confirmed the same adding that the alliance is "very much intact" and talks were going on.

News channels and websites were abuzz since Amit Shah cancelled his Mumbai visit and a senior BJP source confirmed that the 25-year-old grand alliance had failed.

1.37 pm: BJP state leaders in urgent meeting

The central leadership of the BJP has reportedly told the BJP not to be cowed down by the Shiv Sena, even as state party leaders conduct a rushed meeting to discuss the way forward. The meeting is underway at BJP leader Om Mathur's house.

The meeting comes even as BJP President Amit Shah cancelled his visit to Mumbai, in a sign that he was done negotiating with the Shiv Sena.

The NCP meanwhile, which is eyeing a tie up with the BJP in case the Shiv Sena alliance falls through is also conducting a meeting of its own. Will the biggest loser in this entire affair be the Congress?

1.11 pm: Rajnath says talks with Shiv Sena are still on

Is there still a spark of hope for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance? A new report from NDTV has quoted BJP President Rajnath Singh as saying that seat sharing talks between the BJP and Shiv Sena are still continuing.

So is the cancellation of Amit Shah's trip merely another pressure tactic on the part of the BJP, rather than a definitive end to the alliance? That's not clear as yet, but what we do know for sure is that the Shiv Sena is definitely on the back foot. Uddhav Thackeray had better climb down in a hurry if he wants the alliance to continue.

12.50 pm: Amit Shah not coming to Mumbai

Firstpost's political editor Sanjay Singh says that Amit Shah is not coming and the Maharashtra alliance is over.

He writes:

This is a very clear indication that he (Shah) does want to be part of any further negotiations with the Shiv Sena and the talks between the two parties, where both were playing tough are now unsalvageable.

This means that at state level both the BJP and Sena, who have been 'ideological' allies for the last 25 years will conduct a very bitter campaign against one another in all 288 seats and enter into a fierce contest. The electoral outcome and the electioneering will both be very interesting, going by the heat and dust it could potentially generate.

Read the entire piece here.

10:48 am: Eleventh hour confusion over Amit Shah's Mumbai trip

Fresh confusion has injected new doubt into the health of Maharashtra's Mahayuti alliance, with news reports saying that BJP President Amit Shah has cancelled his visit to Mumbai. Shah was supposed to attend the inauguration of ‘Ekatma Bhavan’, on the occasion of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya's birth anniversary, organized by Rambhau Mhalge Prabodhini in Bhayendar.

The inauguration program will be held at 4 pm.

However news channels are now reporting that the visit is cancelled, and that BJP leaders have lost faith in the coalition.

If true, this will be a final body blow to the Shiv Sena - BJP alliance in Maharashtra and the end of a 25-year-old partnership between the two parties. It also comes mere days after BJP and Shiv Sena leaders said that both parties wanted the partnership in Maharashtra to continue.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday made the first step to end the ongoing impasse with its alliance partner, BJP over the seat sharing issue.

7.50 pm: No Congress, NCP meeting tonight likely

In all likelihood, the meeting between Congress and NCP scheduled for 8.30 pm tonight will not happen as most of the Sharad Pawar-led part are attending a poll rally in Malegaon. It is unlikely that they would be able to return to Mumbai on time to attend the meeting, a Times Now report said.

The channel also reported that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's office did not give a venue for the meeting as many NCP leaders were out in town. Another possibility was that the Congress state unit is yet to get a response from its high command in New Delhi to move forward.

There is also another news angle that the NCP is unhappy with the Congress offer of 124 seats and it is firm on a minimum of 130 seats.

2.22 pm: Only Cong-NCP, media want Shiv Sena-BJP alliance to fail: Saamana editorial

Saamna, which is the official mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena has also become all sweetness and light towards the BJP.

An editorial in the newspaper today said the situation in the state is "good" and the "horses of Sena-BJP are running fast and are unstoppable" against "Congress-NCP mules".

Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', also blamed "some in the media" for wanting the alliance to snap.

"The situation in Maharashtra is good. The horses of Sena-BJP are running fast and are unstoppable. There is no value of Congress-NCP mules," it said even as leaders of the two parties today came together in front of the media for the first time in several days and asserted both wanted the alliance to continue.

"What news is there if the alliance remains? But there is certainly news if it snaps. That is why, some in media are waiting for the alliance to snap," the editorial said.

"It is said that there is betting of Rs 100-500 crore on whether 'Mahayuti' alliance will remain or break," it said, adding "media is now part of this betting. A section is waiting for the alliance to break so that it can be sensational news."

1.39 pm: NCP-Congress alliance unlikely to continue?

And even as we see reconciliatory gestures on the one hand, we are seeing irreconcilable differences on the other.

The latest news from Maharashtra now, is that the NCP and Congress alliance is unlikely to continue. The Times Now channel said that senior Congress leaders had said they had drawn the line at 124 seats for the NCP, although it wants to contest an equal number of seats.

1.15 pm: Sena, BJP to meet other allies before revealing new proposal

The BJP and the Shiv Sena have met the press to say that they are considering various means by which the alliance can be saved.

Addressing a joint press conference a short while ago, Vinod Tawde of the BJP said both parties were of the view that the alliance should stay together and were working out various proposals. Other parties in the alliance will also be consulted this evening about the seat sharing proposal".

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut agreed, saying, "Only BJP and Shiv Sena will decide future of this alliance. Both sides of the opinion that alliance should prevail".

1.12 pm: Shiv Sena scrambling to save alliance

Senior Shiv Sena leaders have held talks with BJP aiming to end the deadlock on seat sharing that is threatening to disintegrate their 25-year-old alliance ahead of the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Sena group leader in Assembly Subhash Desai, party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut arrived at the BJP office -- Vasant Smriti Bhavan-- in Dadar in central Mumbai around noon and met top BJP leaders on the alliance issue.

BJP's Maharashtra poll in-charge Om Mathur and state party president Devendra Fadnavis were among those present at the meeting.

Fadnavis has convened a meeting of state BJP unit functionaries, district unit presidents, legislators and MPs here today to discuss the political situation ahead of the Assembly polls.

Leader of Opposition in Assembly Eknath Khadse and Leader of Opposition in Council Vinod Tawde are also participating in the meeting.

1.02 pm: Crucial meet at Sharad Pawar's residence

Amid standoff on seat sharing talks, National Congress Party (NCP) chief has called for an emergency meeting at his residence to discuss the ongoing issue. On Monday, party's Core Committee chaired by Sharad Pawar met and agreed that the alliance with Congress should continue. But it also had insisted on getting a larger share of Maharashtra's 288 Assembly seats than 124 offered by Congress.

12.03 pm: Shiv Sena climbs down? Agrees to BJP demand of 130 seats

Spooked perhaps by reports that the BJP was sending out some feelers towards Sharad Pawar's NCP which is having its own problems with the Congress party, Shiv Sena leaders have reportedly climbed down from its 'final offer' of 119 seats and agreed to the BJP demand of 130 seats.

The development was reported on the Times Now channel which said that the Shiv Sena had blinked first. Indications to this effect had first come when senior Shiv Sena leaders were quoted by the channel as saying that they hoped the Maharashtra alliance would be saved.

This also came amid signs that the BJP was readying to go it alone in the Maharashtra elections.

However the Times Now channel quoted sources as saying that the BJP was unhappy with the Sena 'compromise' because to give the BJP its desired 130 seats, it has severely reduced the number of seats given to smaller parties in the alliance.

Earlier a top Maharashtra BJP leader and the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Eknath Khadse even went to the extent of saying the alliance was on the "death bed".

The deadlock had left smaller allies of 'Mahayuti', the mega-alliance led by Sena and BJP, restive with one of them threatening to walk out and contest the polls alone.

Meanwhile on the other hand, it looks like the Congress and NCP are not really that close to patching things up. The Congress had reportedly told the NCP to 'take it or leave it' even as talks between the two sides reportedly ended inconclusively.

Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane told reporters that the two sides have decided to meet again at 8.30 pm as "no solution could be arrived at." The meeting was held at Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's official residence - Varsha.

Congress has been refusing to yield to NCP's demand for equal seats, while the latter has rejected offer of 124 of the state's 288 Assembly seats.

NCP leader Praful Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, state party chief Sunil Tatkare and other leaders attended the meeting, to resolve the seat-sharing deadlock and salvage the 15-year-old alliance.

State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre, who was present at the meeting, also said the "talks were inconclusive."

The NCP's core committee chaired by party chief Sharad Pawar had gone into a huddle here yesterday where it reaffirmed that the alliance should continue but insisted on getting a larger share of the state's 288 Assembly seats than 124 offered by Congress.

NCP had contested 114 and Congress 174 in 2009 Assembly elections and has been insisting on fielding candidates in half of the 288 seats, citing it had double the number of Lok Sabha seats in the state than Congress. In the worst-ever performance for the ruling alliance, NCP had won 4 Lok Sabha seats against Congress' 2.

7.00 am: Fed up BJP planning to go it alone?

Firstpost editor Sanjay Singh says that the general feeling among the Maharashtra BJP is that Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has gone too far, especially with his barb against PM Narendra Modi.

He writes:

Uddhav said, "Everyone knows how terrible the situation was when the Godhra riots took place…Everyone was saying that Modi should be immediately removed from the Gujarat CM's post. At that time, it was only Balasaheb who told LK Advani that Modi should stay on, given that he pursues the Hindutva ideology.

The BJP leaders are agitated over Uddhav's remarks, which implied that it was time for Modi to return the favour.

“Shiv Sena has unfortunately got into this habit of upbraiding even the top leadership of the BJP. As an alliance partner, the least they could have done was to spare Modi. But sometimes they say there was no Modi wave, and at other times they say that Modi reached the top only because the Thackeray family stood by him. The Sena did not make life any easier for Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, but since everyone respected Bal Thackeray’s stature and understood his temperament, ties never came to breaking point. Uddhav should realise he is no Bal Thackeray and things are different in 2014. They can’t be given a free run”, a BJP leader said.

Read the whole article here