Mumbai, In a huge jolt to the opposition <keyword id="58687" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharatiya-Janata-Party">Bharatiya Janata Party</keyword> (BJP), senior leader <keyword id="6357736" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Eknath-Khadse">Eknath Khadse</keyword> has quit the party to join the ruling <keyword id="54794" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nationalist-Congress-Party">Nationalist Congress Party</keyword>, a top leader said here on Wednesday. "He has quit the BJP after serving the party for over 35 years... He will join the NCP on Friday afternoon," NCP State President and <keyword id="10144819" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="minister-jayant-patil">Minister Jayant Patil</keyword> told mediapersons. Besides, several other BJP leaders, including many activists at various levels, are likely to follow suit and shall be followed by other elected legislators later, said Patil. "Khadse Saheb has expressed his willingness to work under the leadership of NCP President <keyword id="6364749" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sharad-Pawar">Sharad Pawar</keyword>... He has been subjected to great injustice in his party... Other elected leaders would enter NCP at a subsequent stage...," the NCP state chief said. Earlier, Khadse informed newspersons that he had quit from the primary membership of the BJP. However, state BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye claimed that the party has not received his (Khadse's) resignation letter so far. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-ril-ioc-ongc-cipla-hindustan-zinc-prabhat-dairy-and-others/articleshow/78780036.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Top stocks to watch — RIL, IOC, ONGC, Cipla, Hindustan Zinc, Prabhat Dairy, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/checkout-samsung-galaxy-m51-mobile-review/articleshow/78780771.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Samsung Galaxy M51 review – insane battery life</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/india-will-be-most-consequential-partner-for-us-in-indo-pacific-this-century/articleshow/78780949.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">US Defence Secretary believes India will be the most consequential partner for US in Indo-Pacific this century</a>

Senior leader Eknath Khadse quits BJP to join NCP

Newly elected NCP MLC Eknath Khadse on Sunday said <keyword id="6358821" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shiv-sena" source="Orion">Shiv Sena</keyword> leader <keyword id="193503" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="eknath-shinde" source="Orion">Eknath Shinde</keyword>'s rebellion against <keyword id="13126" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="maharashtra" source="Orion">Maharashtra</keyword> Chief Minister <keyword id="53973" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="uddhav-thackeray" source="Orion">Uddhav Thackeray</keyword> was due to some "powerful force" backing the dissidents. Addressing a press conference here, Khadse, a former <keyword id="14666" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bjp" source="Orion">BJP</keyword> leader, said the identity of this "powerful force" would be out in the open in the coming days, adding that he had never seen the state go through such a volatile situation in his 40-year political career. "It (rebellion) is an internal issue of the Sena. However, there is surely some powerful force supporting Shinde. He will not take such a bold step without powerful backing. I have not seen such instability in the state in my 40-year career," Khadse said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ola-shuts-it-used-car-and-quick-commerce-businesses/articleshow/92480954.cms">Ola shuts it used car and quick commerce businesses</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/india-might-be-used-as-a-back-door-for-russian-oil-say-media-reports/articleshow/92480791.cms">India might be used as a 'back door' for Russian oil, say media reports</a>

Maha crisis: 'A powerful force behind the rebellion'

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48761757.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> 
 <keyword id="6356172" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Maharashtra-government">Maharashtra government</keyword> is planning to modify rules on liquor consumption including allowing a permit holder to keep 12 bottles of <keyword id="6359858" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="alcohol">alcohol</keyword> at home against the existing two as it feels that these steps would help curb deaths due to sale of spurious alcohol. 
 
Under the present rules, a person in the state also needs a day's permit to consume alcohol at a bar or any other public place (permit room) but the government is mulling doing away with this system too. 
 State <keyword id="97443" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Excise-minister">Excise Minister</keyword> <keyword id="6357736" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Eknath-Khadse">Eknath Khadse</keyword> said the government is likely to issue a notification next month to modify the existing law. 
 
"More than a 100 people unnecessarily lost their lives in the Malwani hooch incident. After that incident, the state Excise department is trying various measures to curb the sale of spurious and illegal alcohol," Khadse told PTI. 
 
"One of the steps the Excise department has suggested is to allow a permit holder to keep 12 bottles of liquor at home in place of the existing two," he said. 
 
Under the current law, a person needs a permit to keep alcohol at home in Maharashtra. 
 
The government will be not be required to amend the existing Bombay Prohibition Act, he said adding that the state Cabinet is empowered to bring necessary changes in the law. 
 
The government is also likely to do away with the existing system where a person consuming alcohol has to take a day's permit before consuming liquor, the minister said. 
 
"When a person goes to a permit room that is legal, he has to spend on getting a day's permit. One should not be asked to pay extra while sitting in a place that already has a permit to serve alcohol," he told PTI. 
 
Khadse said the Excise department has also suggested to increase the minimum quantity of alcohol to be stored in each bottle from the existing 750 ml to 1,000 ml. 
 
"The Excise department has suggested increasing the minimum quantity that can be stored in each bottle from 750 to 1,000 ml. But we are not keen on doing that at the moment," he told PTI. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Raise a toast! Maharashtra government planning to let people keep 12 bottles of alcohol at home

New Delhi, The ED has summoned <keyword id="1408828" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varsha-Raut">Varsha Raut</keyword>, wife of <keyword id="6358821" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="shiv-sena">Shiv Sena</keyword> MP <keyword id="6355496" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Raut">Sanjay Raut</keyword>, for questioning in the PMC Bank money laundering case on December 29, officials said on Sunday. Varsha Raut has been asked to appear before the federal agency in Mumbai. This is the third summons issued to her after she skipped the earlier two on health grounds, they said. The summons for questioning has been issued to her under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED wants to question Varsha Raut with regard to "receipt" of some funds that were allegedly siphoned from the bank, official sources claimed. The ED had filed a PMLA case to probe the alleged loan fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank in October last year against the <keyword id="638887" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-Development-Infrastructure-Ltd">Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd</keyword> (HDIL), its promoters Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan, its former chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas. The agency took cognisance of a Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing FIR against them for allegedly causing "wrongful loss, prima facie to the tune of ₹4,355 crore to PMC Bank, and corresponding gains to themselves". The Shiv Sena, which is part of Maharashtra's ruling alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the NCP and the Congress, had earlier alleged that central probe agencies have been targeting them unfairly. Former BJP leader Eknath Khadse, who recently joined Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has also been summoned by the ED for questioning on December 30 in Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case linked to a land deal in Pune's Bhosri area. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/top-10-most-expensive-natural-disasters-of-2020-in-the-world/slidelist/79986294.cms">Cyclone Amphan was the most expensive cyclone of 2020 and the fourth most expensive natural disaster overall</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/jack-ma-ant-group-asked-to-overhaul-its-business-model-by-china-central-bank/articleshow/79987683.cms">China's central bank wants Jack Ma's Ant Group to overhaul its business model</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/indian-space-startup-skyroot-aerospace-successfully-test-fires-first-solid-rocket-propulsion-stage-demonstrator-called-kalam-5/articleshow/79988975.cms">India’s first-ever privately designed and developed rocket is a step closer to becoming a reality in 2021</a>

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife summoned for questioning in PMC Bank money laundering case

Check out winning candidate list from Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP + Shiv Sena easily beat Congress + NCP

Lok Sabha Election 2019 Candidate List for Maharashtra

Maharashtra State Elections winner and leading candidate list 2019

Candidate list for Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections 2019

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48771983.cms" /> 
According to weather departments, the monsoon was below sufficiency this year and the grave consequences of low rainfall have already begun to show up. It is reported that drought like symptoms have started showing up in both rural and urban areas of the peninsular India. Maharashtra's Marathwada and western Maharashtra regions and north interior Karnataka, being the worst sufferers. 
 
While Kharif crop has already been affected, prospects of Rabi crop depend largely on rainfall in September. However, weather experts believe September rainfall will also be meagre. Authorities in Maharasthra having stored water in most dams for drinking purposes, chances are unlike that water will be diverted for irrigation purpose. 
 
Dams in the Pune region hold water up to just about half their capacity , compared with 82% at this time in 2014 and 87% in 2013. The Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to implement a 15% water cut and may restrict supply of drinking water to alternate days. 
 
Latur residents in Maharashtra are in grave distress as their plight of getting water, once in 8 or 15 days may worsen. Ujani dam, the lifeline of Solapur district, has zero live storage as against 72% at this time last year. Similarly, Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad has just 5% live storage and the administration has made up its mind to use its dead stock, which is usually not exhausted, to meet drinking water requirements. As per the agriculture ministry, about 56% of the net cultivated area of the country is rain-fed, accounting for 44% of food production. 
Sugarcane farmers from drought-affected areas are selling cane as fodder instead of waiting for a few more months to sell it to sugar mills. They are getting Rs 2,800 to Rs 3,000 a tonne, compared to Rs 2,000 paid by most mills this year. Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse has indicated that the state government may not allow sugar mills from drought-affected areas to crush sugarcane in the October September sugar year. A sugar mill of 2,500 tonne per day crushing capacity requires 5 lakh litres of water every day . 
 
Sugar mill owners said since cane availability will be less, very few mills will be able to do crushing next season. 
However, a venture started to artificially curate rainfall didn’t yield much result. the artificial rain fall experiment being carried out in Marathwada region has not given much rainfall, even after about 80 flying hours. "There are not enough rain-bearing clouds coming to this region," said a senior official. 
 
In some districts of neighbouring Karnataka, rains were as much as 40% less than what is considered normal. Of the total 171 talukas in Karnataka, the state government has declared drought in 135, almost four times more than last year. 
 
Karnataka has asked for more than Rs 3,000 crore of central assistance, state officials said. According to officials of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, north interior Karnataka has most of the drought-affected areas.

Drought-like situation in Maharasthra and Karnataka. Blame it on low rainfall

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43136513.cms" />NEW DELHI: Reconciled to a near-inevitable break-up with <keyword id="6358821" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Shiv-Sena">Shiv Sena</keyword>, BJP on Sunday rolled out a plan to contest all 288 seats in Maharashtra along with its smaller allies. 
 The decision was taken by the party’s central election committee (CEC) after <keyword id="114039" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="BJP-chief">BJP chief</keyword> <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amit-Shah">Amit Shah</keyword> briefed Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> about the <keyword id="6394856" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sena">Sena</keyword>’s adamant posture on seat-sharing. The CEC also finalized candidates for all the seats. 
 <keyword id="6356617" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="bjp-leader">BJP leader</keyword> Rajiv Pratap Rudy said after the meeting, "Maharashtra seats were discussed at the CEC meeting. Most of the candidates have been decided upon, and party president Amit Shah will announce these names. The political situation in Maharashtra was also discussed, and it was decided that efforts to continue with the alliance will be on, and we would want it to continue in the same spirit that the partnership has been going on for so long in a mutually respectful manner." 
 
With the process of filing nominations for the October 15 assembly polls not expected to gather momentum before September 25 because of the ongoing ‘inauspicious period of pitru paksha,’ both parties are considering waiting for another 72 hours before taking a final decision on the crucial alliance. 
 
"There is time till ‘shradh’ (which ends on September 24) for the tug-of-war to go on," a senior BJP leader said. 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43136258.cms" style="font-size: 13.63636302948px;" /> 
 
Senior BJP leaders from Maharashtra, who were in New Delhi on Sunday to attend the party’s Parliamentary board meeting, sought the central leadership’s go-ahead to snap poll ties. BJP also rejected Sena’s latest formula which Uddhav Thackeray spelt out at a party jamboree held in a Bandra auditorium on Sunday. Thackeray said Sena would contest 151 seats and leave 119 for BJP and 18 for junior allies. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/As-Sena-and-BJP-negotiate-smaller-allies-talk-of-parting-ways/articleshow/43102232.cms">As Sena and BJP negotiate, smaller allies talk of parting ways</a> 
 
"This is all that I have to offer to BJP. If they reject this, then I am left with no other alternative," Thackeray told Shiv Sainiks. This is Uddhav’s lump-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to BJP, said observers. Like the Maharashtra BJP, Sena has asked all its party units across the state to be prepared to contest polls on their own strength, sources said. 
 
In his 45-minute speech, Thackeray gave ample indications that he was willing to plan Sena’s future minus BJP. "I will undoubtedly feel sorry if the alliance breaks... But if you are going to treat us like a blade of grass then our tigers are ready (to go solo)," he said. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43136262.cms" style="font-size: 13.63636302948px;" /> 
 
 
Urging Shiv Sainiks to remain united and stand behind the party leadership, Thackeray said, "This is our battle for survival... This is our final test. We will succeed if providence is on our side... We will fail if fate is not in our favour... Don’t forget that Chhatrapati Shivaji was born in Maharashtra and he took on the mighty Mughal rulers." 
 
Talking to mediapersons in New Delhi, BJP leaders Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde summarily dismissed Sena’s formula. Khadse said his party was not ready for any more sacrifices for the Sena’s sake. Both he and Tawde made it clear that extracting more seats from Sena was their party’s top priority. "The Maharashtra BJP’s strike rate was 60% in 2009, while the Sena’s strike rate was 40%," Khadse pointed out. 
 
Stating that BJP had offered its Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra to RPI leader Ramdas Athavale in the larger interest of the ‘maha yuti’, Khadse expressed shock and dismay that the Sena was not willing to part with a couple of assembly seats as compensation. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43136259.cms" style="font-size: 13.63636302948px;" /> 
Shiv <keyword id="115191" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sena-chief">Sena chief</keyword> Uddhav Thackeray with BJP president Amit Shah. (PTI file photo) 
 
Earlier in the day, hours after Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's tough talk in Mumbai, BJP told its partner that it was the duty of both parties to continue the tie-up and sort out issues instead of going through the media, in remarks directed at the Sena chief. BJP also termed Thackeray's final offer to it as being “nothing new” as the party has been contesting on 119 seats ever since the partnership started 25 years ago. 
 
Tawde said Sena should accept BJP’s demand for re-allocation of assembly seats. "The number of seats which Sena lost in the last five elections is 59. We want these seats to be re-distributed," he stated. 
 
"The issue of seat-sharing issue can be sorted out mutually through face-to-face talks and not through media (TV)," Tawde added. 
 
Uddhav, too, used harsh words for the 25-year-old ally. Giving a lowdown on the seat-sharing talks, he said BJP’s Om Prakash Mathur came to him 10 days ago with the 135:135 formula. "I told him we should sit down and talk. We must iron out the issues between us. Mathur later came to see me with an offer of 145 seats... We will give you these many seats, he said. Who are they to give us?", he asked. 
 
Thackeray also referred to the 140:130 formula which state BJP president Devendra Fadnavis presented to him on Saturday. 
 
The thrust of Thackeray’s speech was that BJP was not ready to acknowledge Sena’s growing strength in Maharashtra and that Sena would not tolerate humiliation from its poll partner. "What is in our ‘naseeb’ (fate), no one can take away from us," he remarked. 
 
"We have respect for Narendra Modi. But he too was humiliated as a chaiwalla... Our Sainiks will assume power if Goddess Tulja Bhavani and Goddess Mahalakshmi bless them," he added. 
 
Recalling Sena-BJP’s halcyon days, Thackeray praised Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde for leading the alliance. "Mahajan and Munde never stretched things too far. Our differences would never spiral out of control." 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43136261.cms" style="font-size: 13.63636302948px;" /> 
 
(From left) BJP leader Vinod Tawde, BJP national president Amit Shah, president of Maharashtra state unit of BJP Devendra Fadnavis and BJP MLC Chandrakant Patil during a rally in Kolhapur. (TOI photo) 
 
"I have no ego, no ambition. I have a high level of self-confidence… I want power in Maharashtra, not for any other reason but to accelerate Maharashtra’s development," said the Sena president. 
 
Senior Sena functionary Subhash Desai said there was no Modi wave in Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country. Why did the BJP lose heavily in recent by-elections if there was a Modi wave, Desai asked. 
 
Thackeray claimed Modi could continue as Gujarat CM after the Godhra episode because of Balasaheb Thackeray. "L K Advani had sought Balasaheb’s advice on whether to remove Modi as Gujarat CM following widespread clamour against him. Balasaheb told Advani to retain Modi, and described Modi as a ‘mard’ (brave man) and a ‘tiger’," Uddhav said. 
 
The smaller allies, meanwhile, gave a word of warning. Mahadeo Jankar of the Rashtriya Samaj Party asked the Sena-BJP to finalise the seat-sharing formula by Monday, failing which he and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana led by Raju Shetti would walk out of the alliance. 
 
"If the differences over seat-sharing are not resolved by tomorrow, I and Raju Shetti will contest all the 288 assembly seats jointly," Jankar told agencies. The two parties would contest 144 seats each, he said. 
 
Ramdas Athavale of the RPI demanded 20 seats for the smaller allies. "Out of the 20 seats, RPI should get 10, five each from the Sena and BJP," he said.

BJP Prepares For Life After Sena, But Keeps Door Open

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43214980.cms" />MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: With <keyword id="6374198" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="BJP-President">BJP president</keyword> <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amit-Shah">Amit Shah</keyword> issuing categorical instructions to the party’s Maharashtra leaders not to accept anything less than 130 assembly seats from <keyword id="6358821" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shiv-Sena">Shiv Sena</keyword>, the 25-year-old saffron alliance is likely to disintegrate, say observers. 
 Both Sena and <keyword id="14666" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="BJP">BJP</keyword> are said to be preparing to go their separate ways. The two parties have asked their cadre to prepare to go solo in the October 15 polls. The state BJP has convened a meeting of senior party functionaries in Mumbai on Tuesday to review the political situation in the wake of the aborted seat-sharing talks. 
 
As it became clear that the alliance was set to walk into the sunset, the two parties began the blame game. BJP state unit chief Devendra Fadnavis accused the Sena of bringing seat-sharing talks to a halt. “You can’t hold negotiations with a person who has closed the doors of his mind,” he told a Marathi news channel. 
 
A key Sena functionary said the alliance is dying an untimely death because of BJP’s Big Brother attitude. “BJP should accept the fact that Sena is a senior ally in the state... We accepted BJP’s ‘Mission 272’ during the LS polls. Why should our ‘Mission 150’ ruffle it?” he asked. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43214788.cms" /> 
 
 The Sena did make a feeble attempt earlier in the day to revive the alliance. A close confidant of Sena president <keyword id="53973" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Uddhav-Thackeray">Uddhav Thackeray</keyword> rang up BJP’s poll observer for the state, Om Prakash Mathur, suggesting resumption of seat-distribution talks, sources said. 
 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43214786.cms" /> Sena BJP leaders at their first poll rally in 1984. (Left to right) AB Vajpayee, <keyword id="6371377" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bal-Thackeray">Bal Thackeray</keyword>, Ram Naik, <keyword id="38062" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ram-Jethmalani">Ram Jethmalani</keyword>, Manohar Joshi and Pramod Mahajan. (Picture courtesy — Bal Thackeray: A photobiography by <keyword id="6355257" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Raj-Thackeray">Raj Thackeray</keyword>) 
But Mathur insisted on the party’s formula that the BJP should get 130 seats and the Sena could contest 140. The Sena president’s emissary did not get back to Mathur. 
 
Speculation was rife that the Maharashtra BJP may go for new allies, including the MNS and the NCP. However, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy scotched talk of any kind of partnership with the NCP. 
 
“Actually, we would want the saffron partnership to survive the present crisis and we are eager to contest the assembly polls as allies. This is the collective wish of the people of Maharashtra. However, should the alliance end, the BJP will contest the election [all 288 seats] on its own. There is no question of cosying up to new friends,” Rudy said. 
 
Thackeray’s Sunday formula, which earmarked 151 seats for the Sena and 119 for BJP, with the remaining 18 seats going to four smaller allies, has been rejected by BJP. “The party is over. But we have no regrets,” said a senior BJP functionary. 
 
Sena and BJP offered completely contradictory versions on reports that Shah had spoken with Thackeray over the phone earlier in the day and urged for reconciliation. While Sena rubbished these reports, Rudy said, “Shah has spoken to the Sena chief, and that itself indicates that we are very, very eager to have the alliance. We won’t pull the plug. We are hopeful a solution will be found.” 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43214791.cms" /> 
 
 
Sources said neither party wanted to create the impression that it was the one pulling the plug. 
 
Sources in New Delhi said Shah had reiterated to Sena president BJP’s demand for 130 seats, saying the party was prepared to accept the seats which Sena had never won in the last 25 years. Sena is then learned to have improved its offer to 126 seats instead of 119, sources said. 
 
The state BJP, however, said there was no new offer from Sena for more seats. “There is practically no room for fresh talks with Sena as Thackeray has said in no uncertain terms that he would not offer a single seat more to us,” a BJP functionary pointed out. 
 Reports also said Uddhav had spoken to two top BJP leaders—foreign minister <keyword id="6355111" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sushma-Swaraj">Sushma Swaraj</keyword> and home minister Rajnath Singh—on Sunday to try and find a way out of the impasse. 
 
The saffron alliance’s fate was sealed at the BJP’s Parliamentary board meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, sources said. The state BJP leaders briefed the party president on the Sena’s “haughty” stance on seat-sharing and re-allocation of 59 Sena seats which it has been losing in five consecutive polls. 
 
Shah is believed to have told the Maharashtra leaders to take the final decision on whether or not to continue the alliance. He, however, made it clear that the party should not accept anything less than 130 seats. 
 
Shah is upset with the Sena for several reasons, it is said. First, for ignoring his “come two steps forward” appeal last week. Second, for rejecting the BJP’s 140:130:18 formula. Third, Thackeray announcing the 151:119:18 formula at a Sena conclave on Sunday in full media glare. “Seat-sharing proposals are not announced on TV channels,” remarked state BJP leader Eknath Khadse. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/43214789.cms" /> 
 Fourth, for referring to <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">Prime Minister</keyword> Narendra Modi’s ‘chaiwalla’ antecedents at the Sena’s Sunday conclave. Fifthly, for snubbing Om Prakash Mathur, the BJP’s poll observer in Maharashtra, by sending Aditya Thackeray as the Sena’s emissary to a crucial meeting with Mathur last week. 
 
BJP is keen on retaining the Rashtriya Samaj Party, RPI and Shiv Sangram Sanghatana as allies in the post-Sena era as part of a rainbow coalition of caste-based parties. 
 
Sena tried to put up a brave face in the middle of this crisis in the alliance. “Sena has survived many crises in the past. We will emerge stronger from the present one as well,” said Sena leader Vinod Ghosalkar, an MLA. 
 
Pooh-poohing talks of the MNS joining hands with the BJP, MNS leader Nitin Sardesai, also an MLA, said, “As of now, we would like to concentrate on the polls entirely on our own.”

You Searched For "Eknath Khadse" and got 12 results

Senior leader Eknath Khadse quits BJP to join NCP

IANS

Maha crisis: 'A powerful force behind the rebellion'

PTI

Raise a toast! Maharashtra government planning to let people keep 12 bottles of alcohol at home

BI India Bureau

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife summoned for questioning in PMC Bank money laundering case

PTI

Check out winning candidate list from Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections

BI India Bureau

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP + Shiv Sena easily beat Congress + NCP

BI India Bureau

Lok Sabha Election 2019 Candidate List for Maharashtra

BI India Bureau

Maharashtra State Elections winner and leading candidate list 2019

BI India Bureau

Candidate list for Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections 2019

BI India Bureau

Drought-like situation in Maharasthra and Karnataka. Blame it on low rainfall

BI India Bureau

BJP Prepares For Life After Sena, But Keeps Door Open

TOI

As Alliance Crumbles, BJP & Sena Begin Blame Game

TOI