Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the BJP has an emotional alliance with the Shiv Sena and a political one with the Nationalist Congress Party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party can welcome whoever is willing to join it but the "Congress-like thinking" was unacceptable, he said.
The BJP leader was speaking at the `MahaVijay 2024' workshop of party workers organised at Bhiwandi as part of preparations for the next year's Lok Sabha elections.
“Our tie-up with the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde is an emotional alliance. The BJP and Sena have been together for more than 25 years. Our alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is a political alliance,” Fadnavis said.
“We may develop an emotional alliance with the NCP as well in the next 10-15 years," he added.
The Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena joined hands with the BJP last year to form a new government in Maharashtra, whereas an NCP rebel group led by Ajit Pawar joined the ruling alliance earlier this month.
Some people accused the BJP of being instrumental in breaking up the Shiv Sena and NCP, but it was the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena that "backstabbed" the BJP in 2019, Fadnavis said.
“We will welcome whoever wants to join the party, but there is no room for Congress-like thinking. Those who believe in appeasement will not be acceptable. AIMIM or Muslim League will have no place in the NDA,” he said.
