The Shiv Sena is keeping the BJP-led central government, that it is a part of, on tenterhooks, insisting on Monday evening that it has not decided which way it will vote on the crucial land acquisition bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The bill was discussed in the House on Monday.
Here are the 10 latest developments:
"We have given our suggestions to the Prime Minister in writing. We will act according to the direction of party chief Uddhav Thackeray," party leader Sanjay Raut told PTI, indicating that the bill in its present form is not acceptable to the party.
The Shiv Sena is the second largest constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA - it has 18 members in the Lower House and three in the Rajya Sabha.
While the BJP is not worried about numbers in the Lower House, it has almost the entire opposition ranged against the legislation and will struggle to pass it in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.
The Congress and other parties have accused the Narendra Modi government of making "pro-corporate" and "anti-farmers" changes in the law to acquire land for projects. The Congress has said it will support no changes to the law its government brought in 2013.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis - who has several Shiv Sena members in his council of ministers - were reportedly tasked with reaching out to the Sena leadership to seek the ally's support.
The Modi government has also reached out to parties like the Biju Janata Dal for support. Power and coal minister Piyush Goel met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Delhi on Monday and sources said the Centre is ready to accept the party's demands on other bills and is studying its suggestions on the land bill.
On Monday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek financial assistance from the Centre for her cash-strapped state amid speculation that the PM would use it as an ice-breaker. Ms Banerjee ruled out the support of her Trinamool Congress for the land bill.
The attempt to get regional parties on board is part of the NDA's strategy to isolate the Congress and the Left Front and push through the bills in the Upper House. In the last session, several bills, including the land bill, were blocked by a united opposition.
PM Modi is said to have been against any dilution of the land bill. But sources said the government was considering some amendments after the Sena and the Akali Dal pointed that the bill was being seen as anti-farmer and it was important to remove the perception.
Union minister Arun Jaitley is negotiating with the Akali Dal and the Sena and Venkaiah Naidu is tackling the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, sources said.
