State scan: Maharashtra bypoll a byword for strained Shiv Sena-BJP ties

Taken aback by the developments, the BJP had to "import" a candidate from the Congress and announced former Minister Rajendra Gavit as its candidate minutes after inducting him into the party

The rivalry between the Shiv Sena and the BJP is now no longer in the arena of municipal elections.
 
Undaunted by the BJP’s good showing in Karnataka, its estranged ally Shiv Sena, by putting up its own candidate, is seeking to make the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll on May 28 a keen affair, virtually daring Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and sending signals to his bosses in Delhi that the politics of marginalisation will not be tolerated.
 
The Sena’s surprise move, months after declaring that henceforth it would not contest polls in alliance with the BJP, apparently weighed