Maharashtra polls: Shiv Sena confident of consensus with BJP

Expressing confidence that his party would soon reach a consensus with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of sharing of seats for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray on Friday said both parties are bonded together by ideology, traditions and legacy.

After attending a meeting between the two parties, Thackeray said, "There will be differences in any alliance. There have been differences in the past. But I have shown that the Shiv Sena has no ego and we are coming to talk. The BJP too shares our line of thought."

"Differences happen in any family. We are bonded together by our ideology, our traditions and our legacy. The question is how to take it further which will be discussed by the two leaders of the parties," he added.

Speaking further about the alliance, Thackeray said, "We want to take the alliance ahead in the greater interest of Maharashtra and its people."

"I can assure to you that the Shiv Sena is looking for the future of Maharashtra and protecting that future," he added.

The state president of BJP's Maharashtra unit, Devendra Fadnavis, after the meeting told ANI that his party has given the Shiv Sena a proposal with regard to the upcoming assembly polls.

"The meeting that we had today is when we gave the Shiv Sena our proposal and I feel that we will soon come to a consensus because our parties have been in an alliance for the past 25 years, nobody wants to break that alliance and both want the alliance to move forward. The ball is now in the court of the Shiv Sena. But we are friends, so we would never talk in the language of 'ultimatums'," he said.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP have been bickering over the sharing of seats for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, with reports stating that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was interested in the Chief Minister's seat.