BJP-Shiv Sena 25-year-old alliance headed for likely split: Reports

The 25-year-old alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena is in all likelihood headed for a formal split after neither side could reportedly come to an agreement on seat sharing for the Maharashtra State Assembly polls.

Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote appeared to indicate this on Thursday,when he revealed that his party had learnt about the split with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through the media, and added that the Shiv Sena is unhappy about the news.

"We had almost finalized our proposal when we came to know through the media that (Rajiv Pratap) Rudy had announced the end of the alliance. We are very unhappy. Now, it is for the BJP to decide if they want to continue with the alliance or not," said Raote.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that proposals put forward by the Shiv Sena over seat-sharing in the Maharashtra Assembly elections were not accommodating enough, adding that a core committee meeting will be held to discuss the issue further.

"Whatever proposals we and other four parties received from the Shiv Sena are not accomodating enough. We will have a core committee meeting to discuss the situation," said Fadnavis.

Maharashtra will go to polls on October 15 while the counting of votes will take place on October 18. There are 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra.