BJP-Shiv Sena to hold six mega rallies together; PM Modi, CM Yogi on star campaigners list

Mumbai, Mar 13: With Lok Sabha Elections round the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have decided to launch a joint campaign across the state.

According to the reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be star campaigners in BJP and Shiv Sena's joint rallies to be held across the states from March 24.

Besides the campaign schedule, issues pertaining to Jalna and Northeast Mumbai Lok Sabha seats were also discussed.

BJP and Shiv Sena announced their pre-poll alliance in February with a consensus on the seat-sharing for Maharashtra Lok Sabha polls. The two parties will fight in an equal number of seats when it comes to the state elections. As for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will contest from 25 seats and Shiv Sena will contest from 23 seats.

In 2014, the two parties, along with their allies, had won 42 out of 48 seats. While the BJP had bagged 23 seats, the Shiv Sena had emerged winners in 18 constituencies.

Shiv Sena and BJP are allies both in Centre and in Maharashtra, but in early 2018, the Sena had announced that it would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Maharashtra Assembly elections separately over disagreements with the BJP.

Maharashtra will vote in four phases beginning from April 11 - Mumbai will be casting their votes in 4th phase of Lok Sabha 2019 elections on April 29.