With just two days of campaigning left, the BJP on Thursday sent out its clearest and loudest message to the Shiv Sena about who the big brother in the state alliance is. BJP national general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra and Rajya Sabha MP, Saroj Pandey, told mid-day that her party will be capable of forming the government on its own with a simple majority.

The Rajya Sabha MP, however, parried a direct question on whether this meant the BJP will not need the Sena at all. "In fact, we were in a position to form our own stable government even in 2014, but we did not pursue that route," she said. "We are contesting 164 seats and I think we should reach the magic figure (144/288) on our own."