Sena will be with us in 2019 polls: Amit Shah
I would not speak, but at both my level and Devendra ji’s level, we have held talks with (Shiv Sena chief)
Uddhav (Thackeray) ji
AMIT SHAH, BJP national president
MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Wednesday said he was confident that his party would be able to forge an alliance with the Shiv Sena for the national and Maharashtra assembly elections due next year.
“They [the Shiv Sena] will be with us. [Maharashtra chief minister] Devendra Fadnavis has held talks at his level. Until it [the alliance] is sorted, I would not speak, but at both my level and Devendra ji’s level, we have held talks with [Shiv Sena chief] Uddhav [Thackeray] ji,” Shah said at an event in Mumbai.
He referred to the BJP’S loss in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh assembly elections and added it would not be right to link it to the 2019 national polls.
Shah said the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties would not be at the national level. He said it would be at the level of states and hence would not have an impact on the 2019 national polls. Shiv Sena leaders maintained Thackeray was in no mood to go back on the party’s plans to contest the polls alone. “If he [Shah] is confident about the alliance, then my best wishes are with him… There are no discus- sions about an alliance,” said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
The Shiv Sena had boycotted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foundation stone laying ceremony for metro corridors in Kalyan and Pune on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, reported about “empty chairs” at the function and said the Modi “wave has waned, and the crowd has reduced”.
The BJP has been making overtures to the Shiv Sena. But it has continued its attacks on the BJP. Shah had in April said he sincerely wishes that Shiv Sena aligns with the BJP. He met Thackeray in June.
The ties between the two parties, which share power at the Centre and in Maharashtra, have been strained for a few years now.
Another Shiv Sena leader said the BJP is warming up to its allies after the poor poll performance.
“After they lost three states, theyhaverealisedthattheycannot go without the Sena in Maharashtra,” said a Shiv Sena functionary on condition of anonymity.
The Shiv Sena is expected to continue its aggressive stand against the BJP. It is unlikely to contest alone but will try to put pressure on the BJP to get a better deal in the seat sharing for the assembly elections.