Shiv Sena forged alliance with BJP after nod for sharing CM's post: Ramdas Kadam

MUMBAI: Revealing a big secret, senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam on Wednesday said that his party agreed to forge a pre-poll alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra after the BJP agreed to share the chief minister's post with Sena.

Kadam added that if the BJP was not interested in fulfilling its commitment, it was free to snap its ties with Sena.

"The Sena-BJP pact has been agreed on two major conditions. One was scrapping the Nanar refinery project in Konkan area and the other was sharing the chief minister's post for half-terms each," Kadam was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Shiv Sena leader said that BJP President Amit Shah has already made a commitment in this regard and it is high time that BJP leaders in Maharashtra should stop makign statements that the party which will win more seats in Assembly election will get the freedom to decide the next chief minister of the state.

"It has been decided to have the chief minister's post with both parties for two-and-a-half years each. If the BJP does not want to fulfil its commitment, it should break the alliance right away," Kadam said.

On Monday, the BJP and the Shiv Sena announced that the two parties had reached a seat-sharing pact for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The announcement was made at a joint press conference addressed by Amit Shah and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.

As per the agreement, BJP will contest 25 seats and Shiv Sena will fight on 23 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. For Assembly poll, the two parties have decided to contest an equal number of seats in the 288-member state Assembly.

(with PTI inputs)