Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis has revealed that the first split between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the then-undivided Shiv Sena in 2014 occurred due to a dispute over just four assembly seats during the state elections. According to PTI, Fadnavis made this statement while speaking at an event in Mumbai on Monday night, held to felicitate Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur, who was the BJP’s Maharashtra in-charge at the time.

Fadnavis explained that the BJP had planned to contest 127 seats in the 288-member state assembly elections and had offered the Shiv Sena 147 seats. However, the latter remained adamant about contesting 151 seats, leading to the alliance’s breakdown. “We gave the Shiv Sena an ultimatum to accept 147 seats, while we contested 127, despite our confidence in winning over 200 seats,” said Fadnavis, as per PTI reports. He added that under this arrangement, the Shiv Sena would have held the chief minister’s post, while the BJP would have its deputy chief minister.