In a tremendous show of strength, NDA leaders joined BJP President Amit Shah when he went to file his nomination for Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. He was accompanied by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal’s Prakash Singh Badal, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray and Lok Janshakti Party’s Ram Vilas Paswan.
Addressing the public gathering, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the BJP and Shiv Sena had a difference of opinions and views, but they sat together and sorted them out. “Our ideologies are same, Hindutva and nationalism. My father said Hindutva is our oxygen. How could you survive without oxygen?” he said.
Challenging the opposition to name one leader as the Prime Minister candidate while addressing such public rally, he said, “The opposition has only joined hands, not ideologies. BJP and Shiv Sena were considered untouchables, but we moved ahead with saffron flags and look at where we are. We have never backstabbed and never will.”
In February, the BJP and Shiv Sena announced their alliance for the Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra Assembly elections. In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP will contest in 25 seats, while Shiv Sena will contest 23 seats. Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to Lok Sabha. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won 23 seats, while Shiv Sena had won 18 seats.
The Maharashtra Election will take place later this year, as the last election was held in October 2014. In 2014, BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the assembly election separately, following disagreements over seat sharing. BJP had won 122 seats in the 288 member house, emerging as the largest party but falling short of the majority, while Shiv Sena had won only 63 seats. Later both the parties came together to form an alliance government in the state, led by BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis.
