Shiv Sena chief Uddhav to meet Fadnavis; talks on future of coalition likely

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will on Thursday meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with delegation of locals from Ratnagiri district who are opposing an upcoming oil refinery in the area. He is expected to talk on future of coalition.

Earlier there were reports that the Shiv Sena, a long-time ally of the BJP, will fight the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on its own. The decision was taken at its national executive meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday.

As of now, the Shiv Sena has 63 seats while the BJP has 122 seats in 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. As per the current numbers, the BJP needs Sena's support to cross the majority mark at 144.

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.

During the 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Shiv Sena contested separately and emerged as the single largest party to capture the countrys biggest and richest civic body, pushing back its NDA ally to the second slot. It was a neck-and-neck fight between the two as Sena won 84 seats while the BJP was a close second with 82.

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