Mumbai: After nearly five years of bitter fighting, the BJP and the Shiv Sena have finally decided to bury the hatchet and join hands for the coming Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls in Maharashtra.
As per the seat-sharing formula finalised by the two parties, the BJP and Shiv Sena will fight 25 and 23 seats respectively in the Lok Sabha polls, while both parties have agreed to contest an equal number seats that remain after sharing seats with their allies in the Assembly elections.
BJP chief Amit Shah recalled his earlier remark that the BJP and Sena would together win at least 45 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Crores of workers of BJP and Shiv Sena wanted the alliance between the two parties, Mr Shah said. “This is not just a political alliance, but one based on principles. The two parties have fought for decades on the issues of Ram temple, national security and cultural nat-ionalism and also attai-ned victories. I am sure we will win again,” he said.
While announcing that both parties would contest an equal number of seats in the Assembly polls, Devendra Fadnavis said, “For the Vidhan Sabha polls, the quota of allied parties will be fi-nalised after holding discussions with them. Both parties will not only contest the remaining seats equally, but the posts and responsibilities will also be shared equally,”
Defending the decision to join hands with the BJP, Mr Thackeray said that if inconsiderate people in the Opposition could come together, then there was no harm in like-minded parties coming together. “Despite having the same ideology and policies, we kept fighting with each other due to misunderstandings. But we decided to join hands with the mindset that power should not go into the hands of those whom we have been opposing for 50 years,” he said.
Mr Shah said that the Sena was one of BJP’s oldest friends, and the allies would win 45 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
