Mumbai, Feb 18 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party and its warring ally
Shiv Sena buried all their past differences on Monday and finally
sealed a pact for the ensuing 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
BJP president Amit Shah and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, along
with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Lok Sabha
Speaker Manohar Joshi and other senior leaders from both sides made
the announcement at a joint media briefing this evening.
Announcing the alliance formula in the news conference here, Mr
Fadnavis said the BJP will contest 25 and the Sena 23, of the total
48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
However, in the 288-member Assembly, after finalising the share of
other alliance partners, the two parties shall contest in the ratio
of 50:50 for the remaining seats.
"We have been together for over 25 years because of our shared
ideologies and spirit of nationalism. In 2014 elections, owing to
certain reasons, we had split but later since the past nearly five
years, we are in alliance in Maharashtra and at the Centre," Mr
Fadnavis said.
He further said that the BJP has accepted all major demands of the
Sena including expediting the process to construct the Ram temple in
Ayodhya, farmers’ issues especially pertaining to those who still
have not got the benefits of the loan waiver, the problems in
implementing the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to benefit the
farmers.
The Chief Minister also said the demand for giving tax benefits for
those in Mumbai living in flats of upto 500 sq feet will also be
considered to give benefit to the middle-class people of the city.
He exuded confidence that the saffron alliance will return to power,
both in Maharashtra and at the Centre, based on their exceptional
performance for the past five years.
On the occasion, Sena president Mr Thackeray said that the "bitter
experiences" of the past five years would not be repeated in future,
and both parties will work and fight "shoulder-to-shoulder".
BJP president Mr Shah said it was the long cherished desire of party
workers from both sides to work out an alliance and finally it has
been done successfully.
However, none of the leaders took any questions from the media,
especially pertaining to the Sena’s claim for the post of Chief
Minister in the next Assembly elections.
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