BJP ends 25-year-old alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday ended its 25-year-old alliance with the Shiv Sena and decided to contest the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections with smaller allied parties.

Speaking at a press conference here, Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis said, "In the issue of the allocation of seats in Maharashtra, there was not much difference in the Shiv Sena's earlier and new proposal. The Shiv Sena was only concerned with the Chief Minister's post and their quota of seats."

Fadnavis also alleged that the Shiv Sena wanted to cut out the smaller parties out of the alliance in the polls.

"We had a view that our smaller allies must be kept with us, but the Shiv Sena was adamant about their proposal of seats, which could not have been possible with the smaller parties," he said.

Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse, who was also present during the press briefing, said that the Shiv Sena never gave a suitable proposal.

"With the number of seats they wanted, we could not accommodate our allies. Many proposals were discussed between the two parties, but keeping in view the time constraint to file the names of candidates, the BJP core committee has decided to end our 25 year old alliance with the Shiv Sena. The BJP will now take steps towards a Congress-free Maharashtra on its own," said Fadnavis.

"We have made our alliance with Shiv Sangram, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS)," he added.

Maharashtra will go to polls on October 15 while the counting of votes will take place on October 18. There are 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra.