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.”
