Sena to go solo in ’19 polls; Aaditya elevated
MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday announced that they will contest the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls, which will be held in 2019, sans any alliance with the BJP. The resolution to go solo was passed on Tuesday in the party’s national executive meeting in Mumbai. The decision came amid increasingly choppy relations with its dominant ally, the BJP.
At the meeting, the other important decision taken was the elevation of Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray to a Shiv Sena ‘neta’. The party hierarchy has Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at the top, followed by ‘netas’ (leaders), then ‘upnetas’ (deputy leaders). This means Aaditya will now be a part of the Sena’s core leadership team rubbing shoulders with the veterans such as former CM Manohar Joshi and industries minister Subhash Desai.
Uddhav said going forward Sena will contest in all states. “We will fight elections in every state for the cause of Hindutva, I vow,” said Thackeray, who was re-elected party chief.
The resolution to end the alliance was moved by senior Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who said the party had “compromised for upholding the alliance” with the BJP. Raut termed the last three years of the alliance as “demoralising”.
The resolution said the party will win at least 25 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and win a majority in the 288-member assembly on its merit.
However, the Sena is not pulling out of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra yet.