Would be happy if alliance hadn’t broken: Advani
Advani said he would have favoured the two parties continuing the alliance
New Delhi: In his first reaction to the break-up of BJP-Shiv Sena’s 25-year-old alliance in Maharashtra, saffron party veteran L.K. Advani on Thursday said he would have been happy if the alliance had continued. The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance ended in September after the two could not agree over seat-sharing formula for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra.
As his party appeared going soft on the Shiv Sena by talking of a post-poll alliance with Shiv Sena even when Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray went on the offensive against its former ally in his campaign rallies, Mr Advani said he would have favoured the two parties continuing the alliance. Assembly election in the Maharashtra and Haryana are scheduled on October 15.
“I would have been happier, if this (alliance) would not have been broken. But, this is also right that people from our party were saying that the seat-sharing formula was not proper and we (BJP) should get more seats,” Mr Advani said in Ahmedabad. He said Mr Thackeray had informed him of the two parties splitting.
“When I was informed about this (alliance break-up), as (Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray called me up and told me, then I talked to Gadkariji and he (Nitin Gadkari) told me that he was dealing with the issue,” said the BJP veteran, who is also an MP from Gandhinagar.
Mr Advani, who was kept out of the party’s highest decision making body — the party’s parliamentary board — also said that he was not involved in the BJP and Sena’s seat-sharing talks.
“I do not know much about this matter as I did not get involved in it,” he said. Mr Advani was in the city to take part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan and also wielded the broom.