Amit Shah's curtailment of tour raises BJP, Shiv Sena seat-sharing trouble again

Amit Shah, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the strategist for Narendra Modi, has decided to curtail his three-day tour to two and have cancelled his visit to Vidarbha.

Shah is said to be taking cautious steps ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections. The party's oldest ally in the state – Shiv Sena – has decided to keep a distance from Shah. Even at this crucial stage of seat-sharing discussions, Shah will not meet Uddhav. Neither has Uddhav invited Shah to his residence.

However, party workers from Vidarbha, Gondiya and Amravati are still confused as to why the rallies are cancelled. The unanswered questions have raised several doubts.

Vinod Tawde, leader of opposition in the state legislative council, told select mediapersons in Mumbai that the scheduled programme at Chaundi near Ahemadnagar where Pankaja Munde's Sangharsh Yatra is concluding on Thursday, cannot be changed. Also, if Shah is in the state, the leaders would have to accompany him wherever he goes -- even for the Vidarbha tour -- or else it can send a wrong message.

"We want to expedite the issue of finalising candidates and that's why the third day's schedule has been cancelled,"said Tawde.

However, sources from the saffron alliance claim that this is a face-saving exercise on the part of BJP leaders. "Uddhav has called all taluka- and district-level leaders to Mumbai. There are no senior level leaders wherever Amit Shah is visiting. Uddhav has asked all senior party cadres to be stationed in Mumbai, so that election plans can be discussed threadbare," said a source.

Whether Shah would meet Uddhav or not was much talked-about during Shah's last visit. BJP leaders were keen this time to avoid any such controversy and wanted to organise Shah's visit as a smooth affair.

When dna sought details from Shah's office at the party headquarters in New Delhi at 11 Ashoka Road, his office staff directed it to the state unit of the party, claiming that the state-level programmes were decided by the Maharashtra BJP.

Party sources said that the state leadership expected the seat-sharing formula with Shiv Sena and other alliance partners to be over before Shah's visit to Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar and Vidarbha.