Kolkata: In what may irk the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) eyeing upon conquering the throne of Kolkata, the Shiv Sena on Thursday declared not to contest the West Bengal Assembly polls and extended its support to Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee for the upcoming electoral battle.
Making the Shiv Sena’s stand clear, senior party leader Sanjay Raut called Mamata Banerjee the “real Bengal tigress” and wished her a “roaring” success.
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The Shiv Sena leader also used the occasion to take potshots at its former alliance partner, the BJP, and alleged “money, muscle and media are being used against” Mamata Banerjee.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who made this announcement on Twitter, said the decision has been taken after discussions with Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) March 4, 2021
The Shiv Sena, one of the oldest alliance partners of the BJP, parted ways with the saffron party in November 2019.
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The Shiv Sena later went on to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in coalition with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) under Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership.
The TMC, which is looking to retain power in West Bengal, has so far received from support from the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and NCP besides others.
Voting for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases beginning March 27 and ending on April 29. The results will be declared on May 2.
