State BJP unit’s newly minted head says Shiv Sena-BJP alliance will be key to defeating Congress-NCP combine
In an iron-fist-in-velvet-glove approach for an increasingly assertive Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said it is eager for an alliance with the party despite having the ability to form the government in Maharashtra on its own strength.
The BJP's newly appointed state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said the Shiv Sena owed its success in the Lok Sabha polls to the BJP. And in a thinly veiled warning to the Sena, he asked his own party workers to prepare for a contest in all 288 seats for the coming state polls, with a target of winning 220.
The Shiv Sena, which allied with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections almost five years after the latter snapped ties with it just before the 2014 assembly polls, is being increasingly demanding this time around. Bones of contention include the chief minister's post and an equal split between Sena and BJP of all seats in the legislative assembly, that is, 144 each.
While Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, who is being pitched as the party's chief ministerial nominee, has launched a state-wide tour, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will begin his Maha Janadesh Yatra from August 1.
"We constantly feel that the organisation is strong. Our role was instrumental in the Shiv Sena's Lok Sabha wins. Then why should we ally? But we must understand that in 2014, if the Congress and NCP had contested in an alliance, then the Shiv Sena and BJP, who fought separately, would not have been able to get the seats that they won. The vote share of the Congress has not shown a massive plunge in the Lok Sabha polls. Congress and NCP will fight together this time, as they are scared. If they contest separately, they will not get over 10 seats each," said Patil. He was speaking at a meeting of the BJP state executives on Sunday.
"Will we be able to form the government if they contest in an alliance and if we (Sena, BJP) fight alone? Many, myself included, feel there are chances of winning 170 seats. But this is just a chance... Hence, since we have one ideology and are like two brothers from the same family, our bickering is like that of two siblings for a property," added Patil.
Patil said Fadnavis would decide on issues like alliance and seat-sharing. He dismissed contentions that the vote split caused by Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi helped Sena and BJP win 42 of 48 seats, and attributed this victory to the party's organisational strength and work done by Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP's state in-charge Saroj Pandey said the party would get its chief minister in Maharashtra.
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