Shiv Sena’s attack continues, says BJP’s alliance proposal out of helplessness

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column in the party mouthpiece Saamna, called the BJP “opportunist”.

The Shiv Sena once again attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the proposal for alliance in the forthcoming general elections, terming it “a move out of helplessness”.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column in the party mouthpiece Saamna, called the BJP “opportunist”. (FILE)

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column in the party mouthpiece Saamna, called the BJP “opportunist”. “The BJP’s offer to the Sena to join hands in the forthcoming elections is owing to political compulsion. The 2014 Modi wave is no longer there and the situation has changed drastically. The BJP will not able to win more than 170 Lok Sabha seats. In Maharashtra, their tally will slide down to 65-70 seats,” he said.

The column, which comes in the backdrop of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s interview by Raut at an award function on Tuesday, states that Sena founder the late Bal Thackeray gave the BJP an identity in Maharashtra. “As the Modi wave rose, the BJP dumped the Sena. The BJP has realised it can’t come to power on its own. If there was even a 5% chance to win 280 seats, they would not have entertained the Sena. The BJP has a record of taking help of allies and then finishing them off to come to power,” he said.

Raut said the BJP was gradually losing allies as was evident with the Telugu Desam Party, which too has left the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the smaller parties in Uttar Pradesh and farmers’ leader Raju Shetti in Maharashtra.