Raote doubts Sena-BJP tie-up for Maha polls over seat share

Senior Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote on Wednesday did not rule out the possibility of his party contesting the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls separately in the event of not getting 144 out of the total 288 seats to contest in a seat-sharing arrangement with the ally BJP for which intense haggling is underway.

The Transport Minister also hinted that any rethink on the Nanar project in the coastal Konkan, which was put on hold by the BJP-led state government ahead of Lok Sabha polls, might be non-negotiable for the Sena.

"The alliance with the BJP was formalised earlier this year on the (promise of) relocation of the Nanar refinery out of the Konkan region and equal sharing of (144) seats (between the Sena and the BJP). If that does not happen, I doubt whether the alliance will stay," Roate told a Marathi news channel.

Earlier in the day, another Sena leader and Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar said the decision to scrap the Nanar refinery project in the ..