Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena does not plan to let Bharatiya Janata Party have an upper hand in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, despite the party's majestic victory in the Lok Sabha elections according to an editorial of the party's mouthpiece 'Saamna' on Saturday.
Citing a recent court verdict, Sena said, "excessive lust leads to divorce" and asked the constituents of 'Mahayuti' to exercise restraint while demanding extra share during seat allocation talks.
"Allies in the coalition must dream of a victory. For this, all parties must give up the lust for more seats. To say we will stay in the coalition only if we get 'so many seats' is not right," the article read.
The going gets all the more tough for the BJP with Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray expressing his desire to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
"I want the people to give me a chance and they will not be given a chance to complain," he said during an interaction organised by a private news channel.
"It is for the people to decide if they trust me. They will decide whom they want as the face (chief minister). I am not hankering after any post but will not shy away from responsibility either," he added.
Uddhav, whose relation with BJP is under strain over seat-sharing for the Assembly poll, also sought to assert the pre-eminence of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra politics vis-a-vis its ally, saying the "face" that will rule the state in the event of the saffron alliance coming to power will be from
"Shiv Sena only".
"Talks with BJP for seat sharing are on. The seats which we will not contest will go to BJP," he said, apparently asserting Shiv Sena's status of "senior partner" in the saffron coalition in Maharashtra despite dwindling strength.
In the 2009 Assembly polls, Shiv Sena had contested 160 seats and won 44, while BJP bagged 46 despite putting up candidates in only 119 seats. The 2014 Lok Sabha election saw BJP win 23 seats against Shiv Sena's 18.
"Every party wants to expand its base and decisions should be taken on basis of ground realities. Ours is a 25-year-old alliance, but its good if people remain within their limits," he said.
The remarks, coming ahead of the finalisation of seat sharing talks for the October 15 Maharashtra polls, are being considered a veiled criticism of BJP amid reports that the latter had sought more seats to contest this time around.
(With inputs from PTI)
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