Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday said that his party was open to joining hands with former ally Shiv Sena to form government in the state. However, Patil said that if this happens, the two parties will not contest the elections together but separately.
Recently, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar posted a picture on Twitter to wish Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on his birthday. In the picture, Pawar and Thackeray can be seen sitting in a car while the former holds the steering.
This reflected contrary to the Chief Minister's views as in a recent interview with ‘Saamana’ had said that the steering of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in his hands. Meanwhile, Patil’s remarks have further fuelled the speculations of tension in the MVA.
“Even if the BJP joins hands with Shiv Sena to protect the interest of the state, it won’t contest elections together but separately. BJP can’t share the Chief Minister post with any regional party,” Patil asserted.
The 35-year-old alliance between Shiv Sena and BJP in Maharashtra came to an end over sharing the post of Chief Minister after 2019 state assembly elections. The Sena accused BJP of not keeping its promised and joined hands with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the government.
Patil further said that the BJP was ready to give more portfolios to Shiv Sena earlier but can’t share the Chief Minister post as it will have to do the same in other states like Haryana.
Earlier, BJP President JP Nadda told the party workers to ensure that the saffron party comes to power in Maharashtra “on its own strength”.
While speaking at the first executive meeting of BJP’s state unit from Delhi, Nadda asked the party workers to highlight the “failures” of the Uddhav Thackeray government before people in tackling the COVID-19 situation.
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