Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday announced breaking the 25-year old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming civic elections across Maharashtra.
"We shall not go around with a begging bowl. We have wasted 25 years in this alliance. But no more. Shiv Sena will contest all the civic body elections independently and will not have an alliance with them (BJP) henceforth," thundered Thackeray at a party workers' rally in suburban Goregaon this evening.
The much-anticipated move came after a stinging speech in which he criticized the BJP with which the party is in alliance in Maharashtra and centre, and directly targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The move was greeted with cheers and a thunderous applause with the workers chanting to Thackeray's call for fighting the ensuing elections separately.
Since past few days, talks between the two parties have been faltering with BJP making it clear that it was "prepared to fight alone" if the alliance with Shiv Sena fails to materialise.
--IANS
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