Assembly election results 2018: ‘BJP’s victory chariot halted’: Ally Sena’s first comment on poll trends

Despite being in alliance at the Centre and in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena shares an uneasy relationship with the BJP.

As trends from assembly election results showed the BJP losing ground in two heartland states -- Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – and precariously placed in Madhya Pradesh, the party’s Maharashtra ally Shiv Sena took jibes at its coalition partner.

A worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rides his bicycle past the party's campaign billboard featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside their party headquarters in New Delhi, February 10, 2015. The billboard reads: "One India, Best India". (REUTERS)

Shiv Sena spokesperson and the party’s Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Raut said the trends reflect that the BJP’s victory chariot has been halted.

“This is a clear message and it is the time for us to introspect,” Raut told reporters in Parliament Complex.

Despite being in alliance at the Centre and in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena shares an uneasy relationship with the BJP often taking on the ally over key issues.

The two parties contested the 2014 Maharashtra polls separately but later joined hands to form government in the state.

Recently, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray attacked the BJP over the Ram temple issue saying the party must bring an ordinance to clear way for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

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Sena, BJP have long shared an uneasy relation starting with the allocation of ministries after the 2014 Lok Sabha win for the NDA. The Shiv Sena continued its jibes at Modi government over its Pakistan and economic policies, and the BJP would give a reply every time.

The sparring continued in 2017 during election to Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation, India’s richest civic body. The two fought the polls separately but then came together yet again to rule the BMC.

Some of the problems also stem from the turf war, with Sena wary of BJP making inroads in their bastion in Maharashtra.

In January this year, Sena had announced its decision to go alone in the 2109 Lok Sabha elections.

Of the five states that went to polls in November-December, Congress is ahead in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and a shade ahead of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. While Telanga is set for a TRS sweep, MNF looks set for majority in Mizoram.