'Alliance May Break If Not Given Equal Seats As BJP': Sanjay Raut Backs Shiv Sena Leader's Statement

Shiv Sena may break alliance with BJP if they don't get to contest the upcoming Maharashtra polls on 50-50 seat sharing formula. Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday endorsed the view of a party leader who had said that if his Shiv Sena did not get half seats to contest in the upcoming assembly polls then the alliance with BJP could break.

"BJP will have to respect the fifty-fifty formula that was decided in presence of Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. I am not talking of breaking alliance but what Diwakar Raote has said is not wrong," Sanjay Raut told ANI.

Diwakar Raote, who is also a minister in Maharashtra government, had on Wednesday said that the pre-poll alliance between the two parties could break if Shiv Sena is not given equal number of seats by the BJP.

The BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections separately after they failed to arrive at a seat-sharing formula. However, they came together after elections to form the government.

The elections for 288 members of Maharastra Legislative Assembly will be held later this year.