The countdown has begun but the seat-sharing issue between the two major saffron parties, BJP and the Shiv Sena has yet not resolved. In a statement laced with emotion the Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray reminded the BJP that when no one supported Narendra Modi after the 2002 riots, it was Bal Thackeray who stood by him; adds that even though Sena wants the alliance to remain, it is prepared to fight alone.

The sabre rattling between Shiv Sena and BJP for the number of seats each would fight in the assembly elections reached crescendo on Sunday, with SS satrap Uddhav Thackeray choosing to dive into the history and give its partner some past lessons.

Addressing his party folks in Bandra, Thackeray sought to remind the BJP that the Sena had stood behind the party during its time of crisis and that it should ‘appreciate the gesture and understand the present situation now’, referring to the BJP’s reported longing for snapping the ties.

Talking to them at Rangsharda, Bandra, a usually quiet Thackeray boldly expressed his views on the ongoing feud. Delving into the past, Thackeray invoked the Godhra riots, largely regarded as a blot on PM Narendra Modi’s political career, and said the Sena had backed him even when no one else was ready to do so.

“After the Babri demolition, when everyone was shirking the responsibility, Balasaheb had taken it up and said: ‘If the mosque was demolished by Shiv Sainiks, then I am proud of them,’” Thackeray added.

Like a marriage gone kaput, the two warring political groups have been bickering over the seat-sharing formula for the assembly polls for quite some time. While the BJP has demanded an equal share of the pie (135:135), Thackeray has offered them 119 seats, keeping 151 for the Sena and 18 for other alliance partners in the Mahayuti alliance.