Sena, BJP call truce; BJP gets Chimur seat

The Shiv Sena Friday decided to let the Bharatiya Janata Party contest the Chimur assembly by-election in Maharashtra, ending days of acrimony and a war of words that had threatened the 22-year alliance between the two parties.

In return, the BJP agreed to give an assembly seat from its quota to its alliance partner, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde announced in Mumbai. The truce was reached after Munde held parleys with Sena chief Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav at their residence in suburban Bandra.

Talking to reporters outside the Thackerays' residence Matoshree, Munde said the Sena had agreed to give up its claim to Chimur, a constituency in Vidarbha. The date for the by-polls is yet to be announced. The leaders of the two parties also decided that the Kalyan-Dombivali assembly seat, located on the city's outskirts, would be contested by the Shiv Sena, said former deputy chief minister Munde.

He said whenever there were differences between the two parties, it was Bal Thackeray who had played the role of a final arbiter. This time too it was Thackeray's decision that resolved the matter and BJP agreed to it, Munde said.

Munde said in the past, the late Pramod Mahajan and Bal Thackeray, the architects of the alliance, played peacemakers if any dispute cropped up between the two parties. But now that Mahajan is no more, BJP workers looked up to the 79-year-old Sena patriarch to resolve any dispute.

Uddhav Thackeray, the Sena's executive president who was with the BJP leader outside Matoshri, congratulated Munde, saying the "BJP strongman from Marathwada has filled the void left by Mahajan". Asked if Sena workers in Chimur, who were strongly opposed to giving the seat to the BJP, would be happy, Uddhav said Bal Thackeray's decision has always been final for the party. "Since we have got a good seat in lieu of Chimur, there is no reason for (any further) dispute," he said.

Munde clarified he had taken state BJP president Nitin Gadkari, a Vidarbha stalwart, and party chief Rajnath Singh into confidence before reaching the deal. He said he was authorised by the BJP's leadership to meet Thackeray and break the deadlock. The Chimur seat fell vacant after the sitting Sena MLA resigned and joined the Congress.