The Shiv Sena will not ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly and general elections. The party is still a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), holding portfolios in both the Central and Maharashtra governments.
The Sena on Tuesday passed a resolution at its national executive meeting, clarifying that it will not form an alliance with any other party in future. The resolution was presented by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and passed unanimously.
Speaking to reporters later, Mr. Raut said the BJP has been demoralising the Sena and it was important for the party to be independent. Party president Uddhav Thackeray had indicated as much ahead of the BMC polls.
Mr. Uddhav Thackeray had clarified during the run-up to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections that his party would not go in for an alliance anymore. Tuesday’s national executive meet officially accepted the party president’s stand.
“Be prepared for the next elections. It may or may not be announced simultaneously in December 2018,” said Mr. Thackeray, addressing party workers after being re-elected president.
He said over the years the party had consciously refrained from contesting elections in other States — barring a few like in Gujarat and Goa — to prevent a split in the Hindutva votes.
Sena entered into an electoral alliance with the BJP on the agenda of Hindutva in 1989. Since then, barring the 2014 Assembly polls and 2017 BMC polls, both parties have been contesting the elections as an alliance. The decision also means the electoral alliance of over 27 years comes to an end.
“Now, we shall contest elections in every State and that too on the Hindutva plank. It is immaterial whether we win or are vanquished but our Hindutva will never be abandoned,” he said. Remembering Shivaji Maharaj, Mr. Thackeray said the Maratha warrior king brought everyone together on the issue of Hindutva in an age with no WhatsApp and Facebook.
With the national scene in mind, the Sena has also included Yuva Sena chief and elder son of Mr. Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray, in the party’s highest decision-making body, the Ashtapradhan Mandal. Along with him, Union Minister Anant Geete, group leader in Lok Sabha Anand Adsul and MSRDC minister Eknath Shinde are also elevated to the body.
In his speech, Mr. Thackeray targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP over issues such as Kashmir, relations with Pakistan and the government’s over-dependence on advertisements.
Downplaying the Shiv Sena’s announcement to go solo, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is presently in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum, said the Sena has been saying so many things in recent times.
“They (Shiv Sena) have been saying a lot of things. I don’t want to comment on them. As of now, we are in government. The BJP and the Shiv Sena will complete the full term and whatever it takes, I am sure we will get the next term as well,” he said, while reacting to a news agency.
Opposition parties however asked the Sena to first quit the government. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik demanded that the Sena withdraw from the BJP-led State government and face mid-term polls. “We are ready for elections,” he said.
The fear of defection by its MLAs is stopping the Shiv Sena from pulling out of the government, Mr. Malik alleged. “The party is unable to come to terms with being the younger brother in the alliance with the BJP,” the NCP leader said.
