The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra on Thursday once again reached out to its estranged ally Shiv Sena for an electoral tie-up in the state at a time when the party chief Uddhav Thackeray has raked up the issue of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Senior BJP leader and Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil also said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will have the right to pick a chief ministerial candidate of his choice if his party wins even one seat more than the BJP in 2019 assembly polls.
In 288-member Assembly, the BJP has 122 MLAs and the Sena 62.
Patil's statement is seen as the latest overture by his party to placate the Sena, which had announced to contest all future polls on its own strength.
Recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar have expressed hope the Sena will tie up with the BJP for the 2019 assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
BJP president Amit Shah had met Thackeray at the latter's residence in Mumbai in June this year, apparently to placate the recalcitrant ally.
Apart from being the oldest member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Sena is a constituent in the Central and Maharashtra governments.
Addressing reporters here Thursday, Patil sought to enlist Sena's support in elections to keep Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) away from power.
"If we (Sena and BJP) fight the elections as allies, we will definitely increase numbers in the Lok Sabha as well as in the state Assembly," he said.
Exuding confidence that the NDA will return to power again in 2019, Patil said the next chief minister will definitely be either from BJP or Sena, and not from Congress or NCP.
"But for that Sena should fight with us in the next elections," he said.
"The party that wins even one seat more than its ally in the assembly polls will install its chief minister. If Sena wins even a single seat more than BJP, Thackeray will have the right to pick his candidate as chief minister," said the minister.
In an apparent reference to Sena's unrelenting criticism of BJP government, Patil said his party communicates with Sena leaders at a personal level which common people are not aware of.
"This is the reason I am appealing to Sena for an alliance through media," he said.
Uddhav had announced that he would visit Ayodhya on November 25 and "question" Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the (delay in construction of the temple) issue.
Meanwhile, Patil reminded Sena that BJP came to power on its own in all local bodies like municipal corporations, municipal councils, Zilla Parishads and even gram panchayats in last four years, against the Opposition as well as Sena.
"The BJP won despite Sena contesting against it in some local bodies," he said.
The minister pointed out BJP's victory in Sangli civic body, despite Sena, NCP and Congress being in fray.
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