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Seat-sharing talks for BMC polls hit speed-breaker as Shiv Sena accuses BJP of 'double standards'

The BJP-Sena are engaged in a hardball game over striking a pre-poll alliance, which still remains elusive with both sides claiming larger number of seats to contest.

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Uddhav Thackeray, Devendra Fadnavis and Narendra Modi
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Indicating that the seat sharing talks between the Shiv Sena and the BJP for the BMC polls had hit a speed-breaker, Shiv Sena leaders tried to up the ante and accused their ally of double standards. Shiv Sena leader and legislator Anil Parab said while chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was voicing his support for an alliance between the two parties, BJP leaders were levelling allegations at them. Parab charged that this amounted to "double-standards" and asked for this to be stopped. 

He questioned if Fadnavis was supporting this and said if this was not the case, the BJP leaders should be reined in. While the BJP has sought that "transparency" in the affairs of the BMC, which is India's richest civic body and has been under the Shiv Sena's control for the past 20 years, be an issue, Parab said BJP ministers Vinod Tawade and Prakash Mehta and the party's Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar were also facing allegations. 

"We have communicated our say to the chief minister, now it is for him to take a decision," added Parab. Meanwhile, Tawade questioned why these charges had been raked up by the Shiv Sena after two rounds of talks between the parties. BJP leaders like Lok Sabha MP Kirit Somaiya and Shelar have taken on the BMC in the past.

 Earlier, the Sena hit out at BJP over inducting ‘tainted’ persons. The Sena said such a move to win elections is worse than accumulating black money, and needeled the ally's claim of being 'clean.'

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ' Saamana", the ally asked BJP what happened to its advocacy of clean image and character, saying persons with shady background are seeking shelter in 'Kamal Niwas' (the BJP). "What about your clean image and character now?", it said.

The BJP and Sena, partners in governments at Centre and in Maharashtra, are engaged in a hardball game over striking a pre-poll alliance, which still remains elusive with both sides claiming larger number of seats to contest.

Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation, one of world's largest and richest urban civic bodies, has been controlled by Sena for over two decades, and, the party is keen to retain its upperhand. 

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