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BJP, Sena war of words over CM nominee in Maharashtra

by IBNS 15 Sep 2014, 10:55 am

Mumbai, Sep 15 (IBNS): The tug of war between two long-time political allies - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena - intensified over the issue of which party the chief ministerial candidate should be from in Maharashtra state Assembly election scheduled next month.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that the chief minister would only be from the Shiv Sena. “Shiv Sena and BJP relations are good... Chief Minister can be only from our party,” Raut said.

The statement came a day after Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had said, in an editorial of the party’s mouthpiece Saamna, that excessive lust leads to divorce and the allies in a coalition must dream of a victory first.

The statement came from the Sena supremo especially in the wake of a seat-sharing agreement with BJP for the October 15 Maharashtra polls. The results of the Maharashtra polls will be announced on October 19.

“All parties must give up the lust for more seats. To say we will stay in the coalition only if we get so many seats is not right,” Thackeray had said.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 23 of the state’s 48 seats while the Senawon 18. The ruling Congress-NCP alliance won only six seats.

Reacting to Raut’s remarks, BJP Spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said: “Talks are stopped... Our workers are angry. Sanjay Raut is not a big leader. The next government will be formed under the BJP's leadership.”