Lotus-Tiger Tango Continues: BJP, Shiv Sena Set Aside Difference, Announce Seat Sharing Pact For Lok Sabha Polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, setting their past differences aside, have announced a seat-sharing pact for the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly polls on Monday (18 February), reports All India Radio.

The details of the alliance were revealed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a joint press conference with BJP President Amit Shah and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Fadnavis said that in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, BJP will contest 25 seats while Shiv Sena will fight on 23 seats. He said that seat sharing arrangement for the state assembly elections, scheduled to be held later this year, will be finalised after discussion with smaller parties that are part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The Chief Minister said that 25-year old relation between both parties have survived because they share the same ideology. He also termed the Mahagathbandhan as farce and said that it was essential for all parties with national interest in mind to come together.

BJP President Amit Shah, speaking on the occasion, said Shiv Sena and Akali Dal are the oldest allies of the party and have stood with it in difficult times. He said that coming together of BJP and Shiv Sena is the fulfilment of expectations of crores of workers of both parties.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the two parties had Ram Temple as the common thread for the alliance, which brought them together over two decades ago. He added Ram Temple to be built at the earliest.