The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra, in numbers

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 122 seats in the 288-member assembly and the Shiv Sena has 63 seats in the current assembly.

While the Shiv Sena on Tuesday announced that it will go alone in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, it has not said anything yet on whether they will opt out of the current alliance too. 

As per the current numbers, the BJP needs Sena's support to cross the majority mark at 144.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray announced that henceforth the party would broaden its horizons beyond Maharashtra to contest elections in all states.

"Be prepared for the next elections. It may be announced simultaneously in December 2018 or may be held separately," Thackeray said in his presidential speech at the National Executive meeting held at Worli.

This is the second time in four years that the Shiv Sena has decided to go it alone in Maharashtra.

In the October 2014 assembly elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had broken down and both parties fought the elections independently. However, barely six months before April 2014, both parties had contest the Lok Sabha polls as allies with spectacular results.

Later, the BJP emerged as the single largest party while the Shiv Sena sat as the main opposition party for a month and then joined the ruling BJP.

During the February 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, the Shiv Sena contested separately and emerged as the single largest party to capture the country`s biggest and richest civic body, pushing back its NDA ally to the second slot.