BJP to continue pushing for alliance with Shiv Sena: Patil

The BJP will continue to push for an alliance with the Shiv Sena "till the end", senior party leader and Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil today said.

He added that if the two parties, currently partners in the state government but continuously at loggerheads, came together, the opposition NCP and Congress would be "nowhere".

"If one sees the results of the two Lok Sabha bypolls, the MLC elections for six Local Bodies constituencies and four Teachers'/Graduates' constituencies, the BJP and Shiv Sena have polled maximum votes. The Congress and NCP have lost miserably," Patil told reporters here.

"If we both come together, the two opposition parties will be nowhere," he added.

The BJP had defeated Shiv Sena in the recent Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll while the Congress nominee forfeited his deposit.

In the Legislative Council biennial polls, BJP snatched the Latur-Beed-Osmanabad Local Bodies and the Konkan Graduates' seats from the NCP.

The Sena defeated the NCP in the Parbhani-Hingoli and Nashik Local Bodies seats.

"We will continue to push for an alliance with Shiv Sena till the end. Differences can be resolved. However, if Shiv Sena doesn't change its stand of going alone, BJP too will fight on its own," the senior BJP leader said.

When asked about the fresh face off between the two allies over the Nanar refinery project, Patil said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would explain the project to the Sena.

Sena ministers in the Maharashtra government had, on June 27, registered a protest against an MoU signed in connection with the USD 44 billion refinery project, Transport Minister and senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote had told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting that day.

An MoU was signed on June 25 between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Saudi Aramco to take a stake in the proposed refinery in the Konkan region.