NCP chief Sharad Pawar with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray (File Photo | PTI)
Highlights
- The BJP and Shiv Sena contested Maharashtra Assembly polls together in 2019
- But Sena joined the ranks with NCP and Congress to form an alliance govt in Maharashtra
- BJP is the single largest party in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sujay Vikhe Patil has said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra was akin to a marriage where the NCP was husband, Sena was the silent wife and the Congress was the uninvited guest.
The BJP MP's comment has triggered a row in Maharashtra where the saffron party failed to form a government in 2019 despite being the single largest party in the Assembly.
The BJP and Shiv Sena contested elections together in 2019 and secured a comfortable majority. But the Shiv Sena separated from the BJP-led NDA after the result was declared, ending a 25-year-long political partnership.
Sena then joined the ranks with then arch-rivals Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar and Congress to form an alliance government in the state. Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray heads the MVA government.
Reacting to the BJP leader's comment, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are running the MVA government in Maharashtra together under the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. He asked reporters to not attach too much importance to Sujay Vikhe Patil’s comment.
"Those who have nothing better to do engage themselves in passing comments," Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, said.
