Shiv Sena-BJP alliance will not break: Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis

The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was strong as it was based on ideology, Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis said in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"BJP will try to release the first list of its candidates for the Assembly polls by August 15 after consulting Sena and other constituents of Maha-yuti (the opposition alliance which includes Sena and BJP)," Fadnavis told reporters, after a meeting of BJP's state core committee, attended by functionaries from Mumbai, Thane and Konkan.

At a recent internal meeting, several BJP leaders had openly said that the party should quit the alliance as it was stunting its growth in the state.

"BJP will never break the alliance because it is based on ideology. It is time to fight unitedly against the Congress and NCP for a better Maharashtra," he said.

"The alliance with Sena is not a political one, but based on ideology. It cannot be broken and BJP won't do that. There was no discussion at all on the issue of BJP parting ways with Sena during the meeting with party chief Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday," he said. "Reports suggesting otherwise are totally false and fabricated." Shah asked the state BJP to ensure defeat of the corrupt Congress-NCP alliance government, he said.

Commenting on the controversial meeting between journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik and Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, Fadanvis maintained that Vaidik had nothing to do with BJP. He felicitated veteran BJP leader Ram Naik on his appointment as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh on this occasion.