BJP insiders said that after Shah's go-ahead, a formal announcement about the alliance will be made on September 29, in the presence of Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Chief Minisiter Devendra Fadnavis and state unit president Chandrakant Patil have sought the approval of BJP president Amit Shah for a 165:123 seat-sharing formula with Shiv Sena for state elections, with 165 seats for BJP and smaller allies. Fadnavis and Patil arrived in New Delhi last evening.
BJP insiders said that after Shah's go-ahead, a formal announcement about the alliance will be made on September 29, in the presence of Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
A senior BJP minister who did not want to be identified told DNA, "The alliance will happen as Fadnavis and Thackeray have been making repeated statements in this regard. BJP with its allies including Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Republican Party of India (Athavale), Shiv Sangram and Rayat Kranti Sanghatana will together fight 165 seats. These allies will be left with about 18 seats and they will fight on the BJP symbol.
Shiv Sena will be given 123 seats and not 144, as they had demanded.
He made it clear that BJP has already rejected Sena's proposal for sharing the CM's post for two-and-half years of the five-year term.
The minister said there has been an agreement between the Sena and BJP for other constituencies as well.
BJP and Sena are currently engaged in a hard bargain for fielding their candidates in seven sought-after seats.
BJP has staked claim on Nagathane, Wadala, Chandivali, Malad West (from Mumbai) and Guhagar in Ratnagiri district.
Nagathane is currently represented by Shiv Sena while Congress had bagged Wadala, Chandivali and Malad West defeating Shiv Sena candidates in 2014 assembly election.
In Nagathane, BJP may field its legislator Praveen Darekar and in Wadala, Kalidas Kolambkar, who left Congress and joined BJP, will get the party's nomination.
In Guhagar, former legislator Vinay Natu is expected to get the nomination.
In Sion Koliwada, BJP may decide to replace sitting legislator R Tamil Selvan to field Neeta Lad.
For its part, Shiv Sena is insisting that BJP leave Goregaon, Byculla and Dahisar for Sena nominees.
Currently, Goregaon is held by BJP where party nominee Vidya Thakur had defeated Sena's Subhash Desai in the last polls, while Byculla was bagged by AIMIM and Dahisar by BJP.
Sena may renominate Desai, who is currently the state industries minister, in Goregaon.
In Dahisar, the party is likely to field former legislator Vinod Ghosalkar who lost to BJP nominee Manisha Chaudhari.
A Shiv Sena leader indicated that both the parties will agree to exchange a few seats to seal the seat-sharing deal by September 29.
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