Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2019 | BJP, Shiv Sena announce alliance, seat-sharing to be declared soon

File image

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena on September 30 announced that they would be contesting the Maharashtra Assembly polls together along with other smaller allies.

However, the seat-sharing pact between the two saffron partners would be announced soon, the parties said in a joint press note.

Maharashtra is scheduled to go to polls on October 21.

In 2014, the two parties had contested the Assembly elections separately for the first time in 25 years after they had been unable to reach a seat-sharing arrangement. BJP had won 122 seats while the Sena had won 63 seats. With no party reaching the majority mark, Sena and BJP had joined hands to form a coalition government.

During the Lok Sabha polls, of the 48 Parliamentary seats in Maharashtra, the BJP had contested on 25 while the Sena had contested on 23 seats.

While announcing the seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Saba polls, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the two parties have decided on a 50-50 arrangement for the Assembly polls.

At that time, the Sena had reportedly sought a Big Brother status in Maharashtra and demanded a return to the 1995 seat-sharing formula, wherein the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had contested on 169 seats, while the BJP was given a much smaller chunk (116 seats).