“They were our friends and people whom they fought against, they formed a government together with them and they left us,” Mr Fadnavis told reporters.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Monday sparked speculations of possible Sena-BJP reunion when he declared that the Shiv Sena was “never” an “enemy” of the BJP. Responding to the question of whether there is a possibility of the two former allies coming together, Mr Fadnavis said an “appropriate decision” will be taken in view of the situation.
“We (Sena and the BJP) were never enemies. They were our friends and people whom they fought against, they formed a government together with them and they left us,” Mr Fadnavis told reporters when questioned about his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the possibility of a rapprochement with Sena.
“There are no ifs and buts in politics. Decisions are taken as per prevailing situations,” Mr Fadnavis added.
The comments by the former Maharashtra Chief Minister come at a time when action has taken by central agencies against leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Both Shiv Sena and NCP have blamed the BJP for using the central agencies to target the opposition parties and destabilize the three-party Maharashtra government.
The speculations began the last month when Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray had a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Shiv Sena explained it as a personal meeting and protocol and said it values personal relations irrespective of political affiliations.
A few days later, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who has been under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), wrote a letter to Mr Thackeray asking him to to rejoin the alliance with the BJP.
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