The BJP on Tuesday had to concede that it had discussed a 50:50 formula of rotational chief ministership in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena.

The change of stand came after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said no such arrangement had been discussed by the two parties and that he would head the government for a full five years.

Following this added strain between the two allies, the BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief, Chandrakant Patil, told reporters that party president Amit Shah would now hold talks directly with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to take the final call on the power-sharing arrangement.

The ruling party had to contradict Fadnavis after Uddhav cancelled a meeting with the BJP to demonstrate his disappointment with the chief minister’s statement, giving more reason for the Sena to insist on a written agreement.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav were supposed to attend the meeting with Sena leaders Subhash Desai and parliamentarian Sanjay Raut to start discussions on forming the next government.

What apparently upset the Sena further was the claim made by BJP MP Sanjay Kakade that around 45 newly elected Sena legislators were keen on the old alliance holding for another term amid speculation on a back-channel link with the Congress-NCP.

Kakade’s statement was seen in Sena circles as the possibility of the BJP engineering a split — another edition of “Operation Kamal” — to retain its government in Maharashtra.

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said his party would “consider” any “concrete” proposal on government formation in Maharashtra from the Shiv Sena.