It was the BJP that broke alliance in 2014, says Shiv Sena (UBT)

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that it was the BJP that severed the long-standing alliance between the two parties in 2014

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on August 9 strongly refuted the allegation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it was the Shiv Sena and not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that severed the long-standing alliance between the two parties in 2014.

Stating that the country had witnessed who had severed the 25-year alliance between the Shiv Sena and the BJP in 2014, Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “The BJP had officially conveyed it through its leader Eknath Khadse that they were cutting ties with us. The PM ought to check the record and not distort facts.”

Backing Mr. Raut’s remarks, Mr. Khadse, who is now with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said: “What PM Modi said is not merely a half-truth, but completely untrue. I was Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly in 2014 when the split occurred. At the time, the wind was blowing against the ruling Congress-NCP government in the State. The situation was such that we [the BJP] were sure they would not return and that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance would triumph in the 2014 Assembly election.”

Mr. Khadse claimed that at least two months before the October 2014 election, the view within the BJP was that if they could win on their own, then the party ought to contest independently and that the alliance with Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena ought to be broken.

“Senior leaders like Devendra Fadnavis, Sudhir Mungantiwar and myself among others discussed the question of who would break the news to the Sena…I had come to my constituency of Muktainagar [in Jalgaon district] when I received an urgent call by the party brass to return to Mumbai. While Devendra Fadnavis [who was BJP State president] ought to have told the Sena of our decision, it was decided I should call Uddhav Thackeray and convey the news,” said Mr. Khadse, stressing it was the BJP, and not the Shiv Sena that broke the alliance in 2014.

While the BJP and the Shiv Sena contested the Assembly election separately that year, they again patched up after the results as both parties failed to secure a simple majority. 

Also read | Deciphering Maharashtra’s defections, its politics