Bharatiya Jana Party which has been keen on tying up with its ally Shiv Sena has finally decided the seat-sharing formula with the party for Lok Sabha and Maharashtra’s assembly elections. The Shiv Sena will contest for 23 seats while the BJP will contest 25 seats for the General elections. For the state elections however, both the parties have decided to contest equal number of seats of the total 288 seats for the upcoming elections this year.
The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had been strained for quite a while as rift between Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackarey and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been wide open. At the meeting, BJP National President Amit Shah declared that the BJP-Sena alliance will win 45 out of 48 seats in Lok Sabha.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackarey: “People are seeing Shiv Sena and BJP for past 30 years. For 25 years, we stood united, & for 5 years, there was confusion. But like CM said, I still provided guidance to the government from time to time.” Adding to this was Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis who said: “Our ideologies are similar. We have been in alliance for 25 years. Both of us want Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.”
Going by the alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena, it looks like the BJP has come to a compromise with the Shiv Sena which has been vocally criticising BJP’s high-handed behaviour towards regional allies. Thackarey even went to the extent of threatening to break off ties if BJP did not mend its ways. For once, it looks like the BJP is making desperate attempts to woo its allies and retain its position in the Lok Sabha.
