The Bharatiya Janata Party declared on Monday that it will run in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly and Lok Sabha elections in collaboration with Eknath Shinde's 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena,' Maharashtra BJP Chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, news agency ANI reported.
“The polls will be fought under the leadership of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis. We are prepared to win 45 Lok Sabha seats and over 200 Assembly seats," Bawankule added.
The BJP has already indicated that it will run in the Mumbai municipal elections alongside the Shinde group. The party stated that it intends to establish its own Mayor in Mumbai and will run in an alliance with the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena.
“The BJP and the Shiv Sena would fight the Mumbai civic elections together. When I say the Shiv Sena I mean the one following the real ideology of (late) Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, the one of Hindutva that is being followed by Eknath ji Shinde," said Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Elections to 7,751 village panchayats and direct election of their sarpanch will be another litmus test for the allies. The timetable was just issued by the State Election Commission (SEC). While voting will be held on December 18, the results will be announced on December 20.
This is the first big test between the ruling and opposition parties in Maharashtra, particularly following the Eknath Shinde-led revolt that culminated in the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi administration and the creation of the Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet.
(With ANI Inputs)