The Shiv Sena snubbed its alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday over the results of the Assembly by-elections announced on Monday, saying elections could not be won on any “wave” alone.
“People voted for [Narendra] Modi in the Lok Sabha [election] to improve governance. Political equations in the case of State-level elections are different, and we will have to study Bihar and Karnataka election results to learn that,” said an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece, Saamna. The voters had shown that the voting pattern in the Lok Sabha was different from that in the Assembly elections. “Everyone [including Sena and the BJP] has to analyse this seriously,” the editorial said.
Referring to the coming Assembly poll in Maharashtra, the Saamna editorial said the Sena-BJP alliance would have to work tirelessly to bring in a change. “People do want change but any ‘wave’ alone won’t help you win the election,” it said.
The BJP Maharashtra unit, however, said the Bihar by-election result would have no impact on Maharashtra.