The BJP State Unit in Maharashtra has reportedly expressed its desire to join hands with its former ally, Shiv Sena. According to BJP Chief (Maharashtra) Chandrakant Patil, the party is willing to forge an alliance with the Sena for the ‘betterment of the people of the State’.
As per the report, the statement from the BJP comes at a time when Shiv Sena has openly announced in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ that they have deliberately allied with the ‘secular’ Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to keep BJP out of power in Maharashtra. Reportedly, the BJP is trying to take advantage of the disagreements within the Maha Vikas Aghadi, an uncanny coalition between the erstwhile saffron party Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP.
#Breaking | Can join hands with Shiv Sena for the betterment of Maharashtra: Maharashtra BJP Chief Chandrakant Patil.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 28, 2020
TIMES NOW’s Aruneel with details. pic.twitter.com/pCjEgorlI6
As per reports, Patil said this after BJP President JP Nadda asked the state unit to work towards bringing the BJP back in power in the state on its own.
As per a report in India Today, Patil said in a virtual address to party workers in Kolhapur, “Even if we come to power and have to forge an alliance with Shiv Sena, we will still contest the elections on our own. We can form the government together, but that does not mean we will contest the elections together.”
Shiv Sena had ditched pre-poll alliance after assembly elections
Following the Assembly elections result, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray had upped the ante over the ’50-50′ agreement he claimed to have with the BJP. After being refused CM seat, Thackeray joined hands with arch-rivals NCP and Congress to keep the BJP out of power. Despite having a pre-poll alliance with the BJP, Shiv Sena ditched its ally in pursuit of the CM seat. However, it soon turned out to be the loser in the grand alliance.
The BJP, despite being the single largest party, had to stay away from power after Sena reneged on the pre-poll alliance for the CM’s post. The BJP had made it clear that no 50-50 formula was agreed upon and they won’t compromise with the CM’s post.
The party had to cede important portfolios such as Home and Finance to its alliance partner NCP. Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar have been allocated the finance ministry while NCP leader Anil Deshmukh is the Home Minister of the state. The other important portfolios such as Revenue and PWD have also been given to the Congress party.
