The Shiv Sena on Thursday declared they will not contest the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election, but will stand in solidarity with Mamata Banerjee’s re-election campaign as Chief Minister for a third term.
Taking to micro blogging site Twitter, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “A lot of people are curious to know whether Shivsena is contesting West Bengal Polls or not? So here’s the update after discussions with Party President Uddhav ji Thackeray.(sic)” Looking at the present scenario, Raut added that “it appears like a ‘Didi Vs All’ fight” in the West Bengal.
“All ‘M’s – Money, Muscle and Media are being used against ‘M’amata Didi. Hence, Shivsena has decided not to Contest West Bengal polls & stand in solidarity with her. We wish Mamata Didi a ‘roaring’ success, ‘cos we believe She is the real Bengal Tigress (sic),” he further added.
In January 2021, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had announced its plans to contest the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls.
The party is currently a part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition with Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray is party leader and serves as the current Chief Minister of the state.
Although, the party’s primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base.