Hours after the Shiv Sena and the BJP announced their tie-up in Maharashtra, the Congress on Monday said the BJP was striking alliances in one state after another and wondered whether it was "grand adulteration" or "grand fear".

Ruling allies BJP and Shiv Sena, whose relations have been strained for quite some time, Monday announced a tie-up for the coming Lok Sabha and MaharashtraAssembly elections.

Reacting to the development, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel tweeted: "First Bihar, then Maharashtra and now Tamil Nadu, the BJP has been engaged in striking one alliance after another."

"The grand question--Is it a 'mahamilavat' (grand adulteration) or 'maha bhay' (grand fear)?" he tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier this month in the Lok Sabha said that 'mahamilavat' of opposition parties was not acceptable to the country.

It was announced in Mumbai that the BJP will contest 25 seats and Shiv Sena23 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

The two parties will contest equal number of seats, along with their other allies, in elections for the 288-member state Assembly, due this year.

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