Maharashtra: BJP Chief Chandrakant Patil denies odds of union with Shiv Sena in 2024 polls

Maharashtra BJP Chief Chandrakant Patil, on Saturday, made it clear that his party in the future has no intentions to fight elections in alliance with those who have betrayed the BJP. The saffron party Chief made an apparent reference to the Shiv Sena, which backed off a decade-old partnership while forming a government in the state shaking hands with the NCP and Congress in 2019. 

BJP is receiving good response in the state, so no need to form an ally: Patil

Speaking to media persons in Jalna district, the saffron party President, Chandrakant Patil said that the BJP has been receiving a favourable response from the people of the state, and that accordingly, there was no need to form an alliance with people who clutched tickets under the aegis of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his efficient administration while later switching sides. 

Maharashtra BJP chief hits out at Shiv Sena 

"We will not ally with those who got the Chief Minister's post with 56 seats in the Assembly (a reference to the Sena) or a party which got the deputy CM's post (NCP) with 54 seats, or with those who got the Revenue Minister's post with 44 seats (Congress)," Patil maintained. 

"Whenever elections are held, we will ally with those who always stood by us, like Ramdas Athawale, Sadabahu Khot, Mahadev Jankar, Vinayak Mete, Vinay Kore etc," Patil added. 

The veteran BJP leader also came down heavily on Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for constantly discoursing about the third wave of COVID, adding that "as the second wave had declined, there was a need to normalise life with precautions."

BJP-Shiv Sena break-up

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had secured a comfortable majority in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections. However, they were unable to form the government as the BJP refused to accept Shiv Sena's demand of the rotational CM. As per Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP leadership had given a promise in this regard, a claim which was subsequently refuted by Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis. Thereafter, Shiv Sena joined hands with NCP and Congress to form the MVA government on November 28, 2019, under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray.

(With Inputs from PTI)

(Picture by PTI)