At Maharashtra MPs meet, BJP president Amit Shah sends a stern message for Shiv Sena

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has reportedly said that the party would not ‘unreasonably compromise’ just for the sake of an alliance with the Shiv Sena. Shah has asked party MPs from Maharashtra to be ready to fight ensuing Lok Sabha elections alone if the alliance with the Shiv Sena doesn’t materialise

Shah, who chaired a meeting with the party’s Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs on Wednesday in New Delhi, told them to begin preparations for all the Lok Sabha seats in the state. He also clarified that though the party was positive about the alliance, the Sena would not be conceded unreasonable seats. “He told us that party MPs should effectively take the performance by central and state governments effectively,” said a Mumbai MP.

The party MPs were given two minutes each to speak up about the issues they think important in the forthcoming elections. The party’s Ahmednagar MP Dilip Gandhi asked about the party stance over the alliance with the Sena. “He said that there would be no compromise at the cost of party prospects in the elections. We won more seats than projected in 2014-Assembly elections in Maharashtra. It could be repeated in 2019-LS elections too,” another MP said.

Shiv Sena has been continuously targeting BJP and its leadership and had announced a year ago it would solo in the elections. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s ‘chaukidar’ barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not gone well with the BJP leadership, another state BJP leader said.

Meanwhile, party MPs Pritam Munde and Vikas Mahatme demanded the party leadership to push for the Dhangar (shepherd) reservation as there was distress among community members over the issue.

Union minister and party leader Nitin Gadkari expressed dismay over the failure of the party MPs to project the achievements of the central and state governments. “Our MPs keep cribbing about the works that have not been done, but fail to highlight the achievements that are much bigger than the previous government,” he reportedly said.