BJP won't start alliance talks with Shiv Sena

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not initiate talks with the Shiv Sena for forming an alliance for upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Shiv Sena had earlier declared that it fight the elections on its owns. Hence, the BJP has decided that it go ahead alone and concentrate on preparations for elections, said a senior BJP leader.

The Shiv Sena is not ready to compromise and doesn’t want to discuss the possibility of an alliance with the BJP. Shiv Sena had alleged in 2014 that the BJP had broken the alliance. However, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had reportedly remained firm on his stand demanding 151 seats for his party. With the Shiv Sena chief refusing to budge, the alliance talks had broken down. This time the Shiv Sena declared that it would contest the elections independently, so now the BJP has decided that it will also not give any importance to Shiv Sena, said a senior BJP leader.

The BJP was ready to give 140 seats to the Shiv Sena in 2014, which was not acceptable to Uddhav Thackeray’s party.  However, now the BJP is confident that the party will win under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership. Many leaders from other parties including Shiv Sena want to join the BJP. Hence, the party feels that there is no need to initiate the talks with Shiv Sena for the alliance. Any alliance is always for the benefits and requirement of both, and if Shiv Sena wants to go solo, then the BJP will start election preparations, said BJP leaders.

However, some senior BJP leaders are of the view that Shiv Sena is a natural alliance partner of the BJP due to the Hindutva issue.