File Picture Courtesy : mid-day.com
After repeated digs at each other on several issues, the Shiv Sena and BJP finally split in Maharshtra. A peeved Shiv Sena passed a resolution not to align with the BJP and go solo in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls.
According to a report by PTI, the resolution was moved by Shiva Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who said the BJP had been demoralising the party for the last three years. The resolution was passed unanimously in the party’s National Executive meet in Mumbai.
“I moved the resolution for the Shiv Sena to fight the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls on its own in 2019,” Raut said.
He said the party will win at least 25 Lok Sabha seats (out of a total 48 in Maharashtra) and 125 Assembly seats (out of a total 288) in the state.
“The BJP allied with the Sena in the name of Hindutva and the Sena kept patience for Hindutva. However, the BJP in the last three years has been demoralising the Sena and using power to do so,” Raut said.
Senior Sena leaders backed Raut’s resolution. The Shiv Sena is holding internal polls to elect its party president and other functionaries on Tuesday, the birth anniversary of its founder Bal Thackeray.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is set to be re-elected as there is no other nomination for the post, party sources earlier said.
A meeting of senior Sena leaders was held at Thackeray’s ‘Matoshree’ bungalow in suburban Bandra on Monday to discuss the internal polls.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be down playing the announcement by the Shiv Sena . Responding to the development, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the BJP would wait and watch the situation as of now.
Speaking to ANI, Fadnavis said, “Let’s wait. They have been saying many things.” He also expressed confidence that his government would complete its full term. “As of now we are in alliance in the government and the government will complete its five years,” said Fadnavis. The Maharashtra CM added that he was also confident of getting the next term.
