Shiv Sena, BJP to contest all elections jointly, says Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced on Monday that the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest all upcoming elections in the state, including Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, and local body elections.

Shinde and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi yesterday to discuss a number of state-related issues. “We’ve decided that the Shiv Sena and the BJP will contest all upcoming elections together, including Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, and local body elections,” Shinde tweeted today.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been guided for various projects in the state. We took this appointment as we always get guidance from Shah. Our alliance for the development of Maharashtra is strong and in the last 11 months, we have taken various development decisions and implemented them, clearing stalled projects,” Shinde’s tweet further read.

“In the future, we will contest elections together and win with a majority to make Maharashtra the number one state in the country in all fields, to continue the race of development,” he added.

Posting about the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Shinde posted on the microblogging site, “We discussed various matters related to agriculture, the cooperative department. In the state, work is going on in various fields such as farmers and women empowerment and many stalled projects have been completed.”

During the 2019 general elections, the Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, won 18 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.