Mumbai: Buoyed by the positive public sentiment after repealing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, there is a growing clamour in the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to fight the upcoming Assembly election alone.
Nevertheless, it is to be noted that saffron party had already made it clear that it will fight the assembly elections with its ally, Shiv Sena.
According to party sources, people have greeted the Narendra Modi government’s decision to revoke the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir with great enthusiasm.
With the contentious issue likely to feature prominently in the BJP’s campaign ahead of the Assembly election, some leaders feel that the party must contest the assembly polls alone.
“We will definitely win an absolute majority, with or without the support of the Sena. Then, why not go it alone?” said a city BJP leader. However, he vowed to abide by the decision taken by the party high command.
An aspirant, who is seeking the party’s ticket from one of the suburb seats, added, “We know how the Sena harassed us in the last five years. We have to fight independently if we do not want to face it again.”
The BJP and Shiv Sena fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together. During the course of the campaigning, both parties had also announced that they would be contesting the Vidhan Sabha polls jointly.
However, political experts believe that seat sharing could prove to be a bone of contention between the two saffron allies. With several Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders expressing their willingness to join the party, the BJP seems to be in a dilemma over accommodating them.
“Both parties will have to solve the delicate issue of seat sharing amicably before going further with an alliance,” said an analyst.
Maharashtra, which has a 289-member Legislative Assembly, is expected to go to polls in September-October 2019.
