MUMBAI, May 27 -- Amid the ongoing tussle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over the sharing of 17 legislative council seats, deputy CM Eknath Shinde is believed to have held a closed-door meeting with union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Sunday night. This was followed by a one-on-one discussion between chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shinde in Mumbai on Tuesday. The BJP's state unit had initially offered three seats to the Shiv Sena and two to the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP. However, the Sena has been pressing for six to seven seats, including Thane, Aurangabad, Nashik, Parbhani-Hingoli and Yavatmal. With the BJP's state leadership unwilling to concede more than three, Shinde reportedly sought Shah's intervention, and is believed to have succeeded in securing additional seats. "The BJP has already agreed to Thane, Parbhani-Hingoli, and Yavatmal, and is now considering allotting Nashik as well. Discussions on the Aurangabad seat are underway and will be finalised within a day or two," said a Shiv Sena leader. A BJP leader told HT that the Tuesday meeting between Fadnavis and Shinde had remained inconclusive and another round of discussions between Fadnavis, Shinde and Amit Shah was expected to take place on Wednesday evening. "As per the state-level agreement between the BJP and Sena, the Sena is likely to get four seats," he said. "However, if Shah's intervention works, the number may increase by one." In the event of this happening, the promised Thane seat could be in jeopardy for the Sena, as the BJP is reportedly keen on contesting it. According to a Sena leader, however, Thane remains non-negotiable for the party, as it has a sitting MLC and is also Shinde's home turf. "Although the BJP has a strength of 444 against our 346, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, which has 71 members, and others will definitely support Shinde," he said. "So there is no question of giving up the Thane seat. We will contest and win it." The Sena leader further pointed out that BJP state president Ravindra Chavan, during a recent meeting with party corporators in Thane, had indicated that despite the BJP being the single-largest party there, it would have to consider the "larger political interests of the state"-signalling that the BJP might not aggressively pursue the seat. The Shiv Sena's potential gains could come at the cost of the NCP. The party has been insisting on the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Pune seats but may have to settle for only one of the two if the Sena is granted more seats. NCP state unit chief Sunil Tatkare is reportedly pushing for the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, from where he is eager to field his son Aniket Tatkare, but Sunetra Pawar is reportedly keen on Pune, which is the party's stronghold. The NCP currently has 347 members out of 804 in Pune, compared to the BJP's 319 and Shiv Sena's 68. "If the NCP does not accept the proposal of one seat, it will be difficult for us to offer an additional seat to Shinde," said the BJP leader. "In that case, the BJP may have to sacrifice a seat from its own quota." Speculation is also rife over a possible alliance between the Shiv Sena and the Hitendra Thakur-led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi in Palghar. Thakur reportedly met Shinde on Monday to discuss this, as he is keen on fielding his son, former MLA Kshitij Thakur, from Thane-Palghar. However, Shinde is reportedly reluctant to concede the seat, having finalised Ravindra Fatak for it. When contacted, Hitendra Thakur said, "Just wait and watch. Soon, everyone will know what is going to happen."...