While The BJP and Shiv Sena ended their 25-year-old relationship that helped shape Hindu revivalist politics in the country, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) snapped ties 15 years after it allied with the Congress.
The decisions, which came barely an hour apart with the BJP making the first announcement, throw open the election field in Maharashtra where the contest could now be four cornered. This could split the electorate and possibly throw up a hung house. "It's painful but there was no choice," BJP's state chief Devendra Fadnavis told reporters after days of negotiations failed to save what was among the longest political alliances in the country. "The 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) sans the Shiv Sena will contest the polls. We will not criticise Shiv Sena during (the) campaign and remain friends." Over the past week or so, the two parties held several rounds of talks, emerging every time to blame each other for not being inflexible and accommodative of each other's proposals. Things came to a head earlier in the day with both sides saying they had exhausted all options. As contradictory reports emerged from Delhi and Mumbai, a high stakes game of brinkmanship unfolded. [The poll is scheduled on coming October 15.] Around early evening, it became clear that the Shiv Sena's final offer of 151 seats was unacceptable to the BJP. Shortly after, the NCP called off its ties with the Congress, a decision many analysts felt was linked to the breakup of BJP-Shiv Sena ties. The NCP is hoping to benefit from the split in the non-Congress votes in the state. "We had been pleading with the Congress to sort out the alliance issues but they didn't listen," NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters, announcing the breakup. "We got no proposal from them regarding seat sharing." [Source: <http://www.hindustantimes.com/specials/coverage/assembly-elections-2014/assemblyelections2014-maharashtra/tussle-between-bjp-and-sena-intensifies/sp-article10-1268131.aspx>.] -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
