On Tuesday, senior Sena leader Ramdas Kadam, who is a minister in the Fadnavis-led government, said his party had sought help from the NCP and the Congress for the mayoral elections in Ahmednagar. (Source: File)EVEN as the Shiv Sena made it clear that it will not have any truck with the BJP in the Lok Sabha election later this year, the party has been sending feelers to the NCP and the Congress, said sources. But neither of the parties seem to be keen to take the Sena on board.
“Our national executive meeting had passed a resolution to go solo in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. We are committed to living up to the resolution,” Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told mediapersons on Wednesday.
Raut, who was responding to party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s comments during his recent Pandharpur rally, said the resolution makes it clear that there will be no pre-poll alliance. At the rally, Thackeray had discounted the possibility of a pre-poll alliance.
While the Sena is not ready for an alliance with the BJP and has been attacking its alliance partner, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it seems that the party is not averse to a tie-up with the Congress and the NCP, parties with which it has major ideological differences.
On Tuesday, senior Sena leader Ramdas Kadam, who is a minister in the Fadnavis-led government, said his party had sought help from the NCP and the Congress for the mayoral elections in Ahmednagar. “We had sought help from both the Congress and NCP. I had spoken to NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil,” Kadam told reporters in Mumbai.
Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said she was aware of Kadam’s statement, but refused to comment on it.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Mallik, however, said there was no question of joining hands with the Sena. “Whether the BJP and Shiv Sena contest together or not, it is not our concern. The NCP and Congress will contest the election together. We will not have the Sena on board,” he said.
Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said party leader Vikhe-Patil has clarified that the Congress will not join hands with Sena. “We differ ideologically, therefore we cannot join hands with Sena,” he said.
While Sena has sharpened its attacks on the BJP and the PM, Saamana, the party mouthpiece, has been praising Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
