Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2019 | BJP plans to drop around 40 sitting MLAs to accommodate Shiv Sena: Report

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to drop about 40 of its sitting legislators to accommodate its partner, the Shiv Sena, during the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, DNA has reported.

According to the report, the saffron party is also planning to introduce some fresh faces for the elections. The decision was taken after the party conducted a "series of surveys" at the local level and received negative feedback on some of the legislators, sources from the BJP told the newspaper.

"This is a hard decision but we have to take it in the party's interest," a senior BJP leader said.

A number of senior leaders from the party might also be replaced, the leader said.

"Like in Lok Sabha polls, the age criteria will be considered while allotting tickets to prospective candidates. We want to get elected as many MLAs as we can so we can claim the chair of CM," the BJP leader added.

Reports earlier in June had indicated that the Sena and BJP were in disagreement over the sharing of the chief minister's post.

While Sena leaders had insisted that the CM post would be shared, referring to CM Devendra Fadnavis' statement on February 19 when he had said allies would "equitably share power and posts", BJP had remained non-committal on the issue.

"We had a meeting in Mumbai with party organisers where a lot of crucial issues were discussed. We are confident of coming back to power," BJP Maharashtra president Raosaheb Danve said, adding that the next CM would also be from the BJP.

A BJP insider told the newspaper that they are "confident of getting more than 200 seats" (of the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra) while the most would be won by the BJP.

"There is a steady flow of Congress and NCP leaders into our party, and there is big queue. Since we have temporarily halted this process, many people are going to the Sena now," the leader said.