Many in BJP wish for an alliance with Sena (UBT): Raut

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday claimed many leaders from the ruling BJP wish for an alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Though no such discussions have taken place within the Sena (UBT), some members of the party might also share the same sentiments, he said.

Raut’s remarks came after Thackeray’s aide and Member of the Legislative Council Milind Narvekar and BJP minister Chandrakant Patil had a few jovial exchanges in the presence of the Sena (UBT) chief at the wedding reception of MLA Parag Alavani’s daughter on Wednesday night.

BJP’s Alavani is a three-time MLA from Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai. A BJP functionary said Thackeray shares cordial relations with Alavani.

Those who attended the reception said Narvekar joked with Patil, “It’s good that journalists are not here…otherwise, they would say alliance talks are on.” Patil quipped, “It would be a golden moment.”

“Patil belongs to the older generation of BJP who understands the significance of Shiv Sena-BJP ties. It worked well for 25 years,” said Raut.

The event was also attended by leaders from the ruling Mahayuti, which comprises BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and NCP headed by Ajit Pawar, and people from the entertainment industry, including filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, Shivaji Satam and Sachin Khedekar.

The undivided Shiv Sena and BJP were partners for 25 years till the parties fell apart after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections over the post of chief minister. Then Sena chief Thackeray subsequently joined hands with Congress and NCP to become the CM under the banner of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The MVA government fell in 2022 after Shinde led a rebellion in Shiv Sena and split the party. He later got the party name and its ‘bow and arrow’ symbol.

Raut said many in the BJP share Patil’s “golden moment” sentiments.

“I doubt how long Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena will stay with the BJP. We are in a wait-and-watch mode,” he said.

Asked if leaders in the Sena (UBT) also share the same feeling of partnering with the BJP, Raut said, “There might be. We went with the MVA because of some leaders in the BJP. You split our party and gave what we were rightfully demanding to Eknath Shinde,” Raut.

He added, “We have had such discussions several times earlier. However, there have been no such talks in Sena (UBT) yet.”

Former Congressmen Kripashankar Singh and Krishna Hegde, who fought against Alavani from the Vile Parle assembly constituency in the state polls last year, also came to greet the newlyweds. Singh is now in the BJP, while Hegde is with the Shiv Sena.

In the recently held elections, Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the state, with the three parties in the MVA collectively bagging only 46 seats.