Rahul Shewale reveals why Uddhav Thackeray's talks with BJP for alliance failed

Uddhav Thackeray wanted to form an alliance with the BJP and discussed the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the talks derailed when 12 BJP MLAs were suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly last year, Rahul Shewale said on Tuesday. Shewale, a member of the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, made the claim on the day he was confirmed as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.

Shewale claimed Thackeray had told them in an interaction that he was keen on an alliance with BJP and that he had discussed the alliance issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2021 meeting.

He said the Prime Minister's meeting took place in June. In July, during the assembly session, 12 BJP MLAs were suspended over allegedly manhandling Speaker Bhaskar Jadhav.

"Senior BJP leaders had then become upset, as they felt that ‘on the one hand, we are talking about the alliance, but on the other hand, they are suspending our MLAs’,” Shewale was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

He claimed Thackeray had discussed the alliance with BJP leaders. However, the Sena never had a positive response to the BJP over the alliance. He said Thackeray told the MPs to try and stitch an alliance with the BJP.

He said Thackeray had claimed he was not getting a good response from the BJP.

He also attacked Sanjay Raut saying on one hand they were making attempts to form an alliance with the BJP, and on the other, the Shiv Sena MP was holding meetings with MVA leaders over the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Raut refuted the claims.