Maharashtra Assembly Polls: BJP Must Respect 50-50 Seat Sharing Formula, Says Shiv Sena

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll rally in Nashik, Shiv Sena on Thursday warned that the BJP-Sena alliance could break if his party did not get half seats to contest in the upcoming Maharashtra polls.

Sanjay Raut/ File Image: PTI

New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll rally in Nashik, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday warned that the BJP-Sena alliance could break if his party did not get half seats to contest in the upcoming Maharashtra polls. "BJP will have to respect the fifty-fifty formulae that was decided in presence of Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. I am not talking of breaking alliance but what Diwakar Raote has said is not wrong," said Sanjay Raut. Raut was reacting to Diwakar Raote’s comment that if 'Shiv Sena is not given half the seats, then alliance could break'. His statement comes a day after Union minister Nitin Gadkari expressed confidence that the BJP and Shiv Sena will seal an alliance for the coming Maharashtra assembly elections. A mutually agreeable seat-sharing formula for upcoming polls is still eluding the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena. Addressing BJP workers at  Gadkari said, "Workers should resolve to stand behind the party and its ideology. They should stand behind the candidates selected by the party. "I feel BJP and Shiv Sena alliance will take place," he added. BJP workers should work to win all the seats in Vidarbha and bring the Devendra Fadnavis-led government back to power with more seats than the last time, Gadkari said. He reminded the gathering of sacrifices made by Jan Sangh members during the Emergency. "Our party did not begin its journey with the sole purpose of coming to power ..We want to change government, society and to keep democracy alive," he said. (with inputs from PTI)