BJP should not have aligned with Uddhav Thackeray for 2019 Maha Assembly polls: Vinod Tawde

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Vinod Tawde said his party should not have aligned with the Shiv Sena in the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party could never digest playing second fiddle in the alliance.

The undivided Shiv Sena and BJP together won a comfortable majority in the 288-member Assembly but Thackeray broke the decades-old alliance after accusing the BJP of not sharing the chief ministerial tenure equally as promised.

Thackeray then allied with the Congress and NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which was brought down by a rebellion by Eknath Shinde in June last year. Shinde became CM with the help of the BJP.

He said the BJP never thought Thackeray would break the alliance, adding that the move had done long term damage to the stand of Sena founder late Bal Thackeray who was known for not backing off from an assurance. Tawde also brushed aside Uddhav Thackeray’s accusation of BJP not keeping its promise on sharing the chief ministerial term.