Maharashtra's ruling allies Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party have agreed to a package deal of jointly contesting all future elections in the state, right from local bodies to assembly to parliament, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said here on Monday.
Shide, who is also the Shiv Sena President, made the announcement after he and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had a late-night meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Sunday.
"It was also decided in the meeting that Shiv Sena-BJP will jointly contest all upcoming elections in the state (including elections to Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and local bodies)," he tweeted.Shinde added that the alliance is going strong since the past 11 months for the state's development and will win with a majority to make Maharashtra the No. 1 state in the country in all fields, and continue the race for development.
The duo also discussed other issues with Shah, including agriculture, cooperation, the work going on for women empowerment and farmers, and how they had cleared various stalled developmental projects here.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always guided us for various projects in the state. We took this meeting with Shah for his guidance on the issues pertaining to the cooperative sector," said Shinde on their New Delhi trip.
The duo's visit comes barely three weeks ahead of the first anniversary of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance which came to power on June 30, 2022 after toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of former CM Uddhav Thackeray, and against the backdrop of the upcoming civic polls in the state.