Mumbai: After the Bharatiya Janata Party's climbdown on its demand for fighting 135 seats in the Maharashtra elections, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has said that ties between both the parties are strong. However, speaking to CNN-IBN, he added that the Maharashtra Chief Ministerial candidate will be from the Shiv Sena.
"There was no pressure. In an alliance such talks do happen. A national party may think that they want more seats because of the demands made by the party workers. But in Maharashtra, Sena will contest more seats," Raut said.
ALSO SEE BJP bows before Shiv Sena, to contest 119 seats instead of 135 in Maharashtra elections
"Right from the beginning, people said that the alliance won't last. But our alliance is on ideology," he added.
Talking about the CM candidate, Raut said, "There is no doubt that the CM candidate will be from Shiv Sena. All seats are safe for Uddhav Thackeray to contest. He can contest from anywhere."
He rejected reports that there were tensions between the two parties over the seat sharing issue. "There was no tough talk in Maharashtra. A little negotiation does take place in an alliance," Raut said.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari met the Maharashtra BJP leaders in Mumbai on Wednesday night and the party leaders bowed down to the Shiv Sena from the 135-seat demand and sent a list of 119 seats to the central leadership.
The BJP's climbdown came just days after its dismal performance in the recently held bypolls in nine states. The decision has been communicated to the Shiv Sena. The meeting was attended by state BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Khadse, Vinod Tawde and senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar.
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