Shiv Sena-BJP alliance confident of victory in Maharashtra assembly polls

October 13th, 2009 MUMBAI - Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Tuesday said the Sena-BJP alliance will come to power in the state after Assembly elections. Talking to reporters after casting his vote at a polling booth in suburban Bandra, Thackeray said: "Maharashtra will see the exit of the Congress-NCP government and the ushering in of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance." Thackeray's son Uddhav his wife Rashmi and son Aditya accompanied him to the polling booth.NS chief Raj Thackeray also cast his vote at a polling booth at Balmohan Vidyamandir in central Mumbai's Dadar area.

October 11th, 2009 PUNE - Unidentified gunmen attempted to assassinate Shiv Sena candidate Ajay Bhosle on Sunday morning. The attack took place in Pune's Vadgaon locality near the Koregaon Park.

October 10th, 2009 MUMBAI - The stage is set for the Oct 13 assembly elections in Maharashtra where the ruling Congress-led alliance faces a stiff challenge from the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine for the control of one of India's most industrialized states. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) say they are confident of retaining power in the state they have ruled for 10 long years.

October 6th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Shiv Sena has fielded a Muslim candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections in Mumbai. Shahid Reja Beg is contesting the Assembly elections from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency.

October 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane on Sunday said that his party would benefit from the political squabble between Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirmana Sena (MNS) in Maharashtra. Highlighting the recent verbal duels between Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS supremo Raj Thackeray, Rane said that the dispute between the two brothers had weakened the prospects of both the parties in the upcoming state polls.

September 20th, 2009 MUMBAI - Senior Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi's house was ransacked here on Sunday by some party workers who were agitated over the neglect of their favourite local leader during ticket allocation for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. According to sources the outrage was over demand of ticket to dadar constituencies sitting MLA for upcoming assembly polls.

September 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The crucial meeting of the Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders will be held here on Saturday to give the final shape to the seat sharing agreement for next month's Maharashtra Assembly polls. The Election Commission issued notification for the assembly polls in Maharashtra, which is to be held on October 13.

September 19th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance's seat sharing formula for the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections has been announced at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday. The Shiv Sena will contest 169 of the 288 Assembly seats, while the BJP will contest from the other 119.

September 1st, 2009 MUMBAI - The Shiv Sena Tuesday said the factionalism in the Bharatiya Janata Party, its alliance partner, would not effect the performance of the coalition in the Maharashtra assembly elections. "The factionalism in the BJP would have no impact on our prospects in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told IANS.

August 31st, 2009 MUMBAI - Though the party's top leadership is struggling to set the house in order, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra unit has finalised the seat sharing agreement with the Shiv Sena on Monday for the upcoming assembly polls in the state. According to BJP sources the talks with Shiv Sena are almost over and an official announcement would be made in a day or two.

August 31st, 2009 MUMBAI - The rumblings at the top level of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) notwithstanding, the state unit of the party has quietly worked out an understanding to fight the ensuing Maharashtra assembly elections in alliance with the Shiv Sena. "Our talks are almost over and we should make the official announcement in a day or so, largely on the existing 171:117 formula for the 288 assembly seats," an officer-bearer of the party told IANS here.

July 14th, 2009 MUMBAI - In turf battle ahead of state polls in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena has promised houses in Mumbai to state's bona-fide residents. Having lost ground to its faction, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, over hardline political posturing, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray led a bunch of party activists and supporters to the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) head office demanding that non-Maharashtrians should be barred in that allotment of shelters.

May 23rd, 2009 MUMBAI - The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has said that MNS did not steal anybody's votes. He said while addressing his party workers here on Friday in the wake of the comments by Shiv Sena's Executive President Uddhav Thackeray that due to presence of MNS, the votes were split in the recent elections to Lok Sabha.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ironing out their differences, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena Tuesday announced they would begin joint campaigning in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha polls March 20. BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde said that party chief Rajnath Singh and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackrey would start canvassing together.

March 14th, 2009 MUMBAI - Setting speculation at rest, the Shiv Sena said Friday that its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would continue following an agreement on seat sharing in Maharashtra for the upcoming general elections. 'While the Sena will contest 22 Lok Sabha seats, BJP will contest the remaining 26 in the state,' Shiv Sena's spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut told journalists.