The Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna has announced in its editorial on Thursday that the party will contest elections in the future in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra after the state leadership of the Congress, a constituent of the current ruling alliance, decided to go solo unilaterally.
Reacting to Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole’s statement where he said the Congress is ready to fight Assembly polls alone, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said if Congress can contest the polls alone, then the NCP and Shiv Sena will think about what they would do together in the future. Previously, Raut had said the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi partners had not agreed on contesting elections in the future together.
The Saamna editorial today said the BJP and the Congress are preparing to contest elections on their own. Keeping Maharashtra’s interests in view, the Shiv Sena and the NCP (both Maharashtra-centered parties as opposed to the “national” BJP and the Congress) will contest the elections in alliance. The Saamna editorial also claimed Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar are keen on such an alliance.
The Sena mouthpiece claimed that Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole seems to be clear on who will be the next CM in Maharashtra as he has confidently said the Congress will come to power and the party will have its Chief Minister.
The editorial said Patole also said he will be the Chief Minister if the party gives him the permission but Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said the party which gets 145 MLAs will form the government and will have its Chief Minister as well.
The Shiv Sena ruled out an alliance with the BJP in light of the Raosaheb Danve’s remark that a BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is not possible in the future. The editorial also speculates that the BJP will have to contest elections on its own.
On the Shiv Sena’s aggressive stance, NCP state spokesperson Umesh Patil said the NCP is confident that the MVA partners will continue with the Congress for both parliamentary and assembly elections.
On Saturday, Patole had set the cat among the already restive pigeons by saying the Congress will contest all local body and assembly elections separately going forward. At a party meet in Amravati’s Tivasa, he asked party workers if they didn’t want to make him in 2024. He then claimed the Congress would be the biggest party in 2024 in Maharashtra.
Last week, NCP leader and Deputy Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the three parties have come together after Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi took the decision to form the government.