BJP & Shiv Sena join hands with Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could be up against a new challenge in Western Maharashtra -- its bastion -- in the coming general elections as NCP’s arch rival Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) announced on Tuesday that it will go with the BJP-Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls. After the RPI teamed up with the BJP-Sena combine, the alliance has found another partner in the state that is likely to help it reach out to the rural areas.

Member of Parliament and President of SSS Raju Shetty declared in Mumbai that there was an agreement between him and the Sena-BJP to take on the Congress-NCP as a united force.

“The details of this alliance have to be worked out. We have asked for four parliament seats where we can easily beat the Congress or NCP candidates. We are keen to defeat the NCP in every constituency they fight in. Even if we are not contesting in some, we will help the BJP and Sena in those constituencies,” Shetty told reporters.

However, the BJP and Sena have agreed to spare one seat each from their quota of LS constituencies to the SSS. Reacting to the developments, BJP’s deputy leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde said, “We are happy to announce the alliance with Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana. All those who have suffered under the Congress-NCP rule are uniting with us. We are sure to form a grand alliance to get rid of the Congress and NCP.” Meanwhile, Shiv Sena plans to launch its Lok Sabha poll campaign in Mumbai on January 23, which is the birth anniversary of its late leader Balasaheb Thackeray.

This rally will be held either at the MMRDA grounds or in the suburbs of Mumbai. Sena wants to call it ‘Mahanirdhar Rally’. “The location of the rally will be decided soon but alliance partner BJP will not be part of this rally because traditionally Balasaheb’s birth anniversary events are organised only by the Sena,” said Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe.