Talk to Sena leaders on seat sharing, Fadnavis asks partymen

Mumbai: In a bid to forge an alliance with Shiv Sena for the upcoming elections to 10 municipal corporations and 26 Zilla Parishads, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has asked party leaders to initiate talks with their Sena counterparts to explore seat sharing possibilities.

"Fadnavis has given directions to district unit leaders to talk to Sena politicians on seat sharing possibilities. The CM and state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve will meet tomorrow to discuss the strategy for alliance," Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters in Mumbai.

"The focus should be on winning maximum number of seats," said Mungantiwar.

Fadnavis held a meeting with guardian ministers of BJP on Monday night to discuss proposed alliance.

Mungantiwar said alliance finalisation should be done at the earliest so that workers get into election mode and begin campaigning.

The Minister made it clear that alliance will not be 100 per cent since it is not possible to take a decision being in Mumbai. "Local leaderships need to be taken on board," he said.

Earlier, late Bal Thackeray, Pramod Mahajan, Gopinath Munde would discuss the strategy for alliance and seat sharing, he said.