After months of taking potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and vehemently declaring that they would not be joining hands again for the elections, the Shiv Sena is now scrambling to explain why it has done the exact opposite. A day after both parties announced their alliance for the 2019 general and Maharashtra Assembly polls, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray called a meeting with its legislators to ensure there are no contradictions in their answers on this topic.

As recently as January 23, the Shiv Sena had, at its national executive committee meeting, passed a resolution to contest all elections in the future on its own, hinting at the end of its alliance with the BJP. However, on Monday, the saffron parties announced a surprise alliance to contest both the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly polls together. Aware that this about-turn would invite a slew of questions, the very next day, Thackeray held a meeting with the Sena spokespersons to brief how to answer such questions at public forums.