Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday announced that the party would contest the West Bengal Assembly elections to be held later this year.
“So, here is the much awaited update,” Raut tweeted. “After discussions with Party Chief Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena has decided to contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections. We are reaching Kolkata soon...!! Jai Hind, Jai Bangla.”
Raut did not specify the number of seats his party will contest in West Bengal. He, however, said a meeting was underway to chalk out the details. “All I can say is discussion with Uddhav Thackerayji has been done,” he said, according to News18. “And we will go to West Bengal soon.”
This is the first time that the party will be entering the fray in West Bengal. The party had previously contested from 15 seats from West Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections, according to The Quint.
The tenure of the current West Bengal government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, will end on May 30. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, along with Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Sushil Chandra, will visit Bengal and Assam next week to take stock of preparations for the Assembly elections in both the states, reported India Today.
The West Bengal elections will be a closely-watched contest as the Bharatiya Janata Party has indicated that the polls in the state are one of its priorities, according to NDTV. The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP have locked horns much ahead of the polls. While the BJP has claimed that the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated, citing the attack on BJP President JP Nadda’s convoy in Kolkata on December 10, the TMC has accused the saffron party of indulging in communal politics and spreading false information.
In the run up to the elections, various Trinamool Congress MLAs, including prominent leader Suvendu Adhikari, had joined the BJP in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 19. Besides Adhikari, six MLAs of the TMC, one each from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India and the Congress had also joined the saffron party.
The Congress, the Shiv Sena’s coalition partner in Maharashtra, has already announced its alliance with the Left parties for the 294-seat Assembly polls. Another party in this multi-cornered contest is Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. After the Bihar Assembly elections, Owaisi’s party announced that it will contest the West Bengal polls.
The elections are expected to be held in April-May.
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