'BJP may swap seats with Sena for assembly polls'

Says state BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis, rules out any tie-up with MNS

Fadnavis

Buoyed by the resounding victory of the saffron alliance in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP’s state unit yesterday said that it may swap some seats with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra for the assembly polls due in October.

It’s a go? Fadnavis said primary discussions have already been held with the Sena. File Pic

“The ‘mahayuti' (grand alliance) did extremely well in the just-concluded general elections and we did discuss the possibility of swapping some of the seats which are favourable to both the parties. Primary discussions have taken place and there is no dispute on the issue,” BJP state unit president Devendra Fadnavis said.

Citing the example of the Nagpur East assembly constituency, Fadnavis said, “Earlier the seat was with Shiv Sena, but victory had eluded it. When the BJP contested in the last state polls, the party nominee (Krishna Khopde) won by a margin of 34,000.”

No tie-up
Besides the BJP and the Sena, the ‘mahayuti’ comprises five opposition parties namely Raju Shetty’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Mahadeo Jankar’s Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and the Ramdas Athawale-led Republic Party of India. Fadnavis ruled out a tie-up with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the assembly elections.

“As per the assembly constituency-wise statistics of the recent Lok Sabha results, BJP and Shiv Sena have taken huge leads and it clearly indicates the mood of the electorate in the forthcoming assembly elections,” Fadnavis said.

Riding a ‘Modi wave’ and capitalising on anti-incumbency, the BJP-Shiv Sena led alliance dealt a severe blow to the ruling Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra, winning 42 of the 48 seats in the state. “The saffron alliance got 2.50 crore votes in Maharashtra, which was close to 52 per cent. Out of that BJP got 1.33 crore votes, Sena received 1 crore votes,” he added.

Amid reports that the state BJP wants to tap ‘master strategist’ Amit Shah for the assembly polls in the state after the party’s phenomenal performance in UP, Fadnavis said Shah would be consulted and his help would be taken whenever required.

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2.50cr
The number of votes garnered by the Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra in the LS polls

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