Despite Amit Shah-Uddhav Thackeray meet, Shiv Sena's position on contesting elections solo is unchanged, says Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Thursday indicated it had not changed its stance of contesting all future elections solo, even after a marathon two-hour bridge-building meeting between its chief Uddhav Thackeray with ally BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_1763541” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray with BJP chief Amit Shah. PTI[/caption] Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut told mediapersons, “The decision to contest all elections in future was taken by the party’s National Executive. How can any outsider come and influence it?” However, he said Thackeray will make the party’s stand clear at his public meeting scheduled later on Thursday in Palghar, the Lok Sabha seat won by the BJP last week, which saw relations between the two allies plummet to an all-time low. To drive home the point further, the Sena has announced its candidates for the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections to Mumbai and Konkan Graduates Constituencies. The BJP has also declared its candidates for the 25 June polls. In stark contrast, Congress state President Ashok Chavan adopted a conciliatory gesture by not putting up any candidates for the elections to four MLC seats, but declared unconditional support to candidates representing “secular forces”. The Congress will back Nationalist Congress Party’s Najib Mulla for Konkan, Loktantrik Janata Dal (Sharad Yadav)’s Kapil Patil for Mumbai Teachers Constituency, Peasants and Workers Party’s Rajendra Korde for Mumbai Graduates Constituency and Teachers Democratic Front’s Sandeep Bedse for Nashik Teachers Constituency. On its part, the BJP has displayed an air of confidence, with several leaders optimistic that the two oldest allies will join hands not only for the Lok Sabha but also the Maharashtra Assembly elections, both scheduled in 2019.