MAHABREAKUP: BJP DUMPS ALLY SHIV SENA, NCP CALLS OFF ALLIANCE WITH CONG OVER SEAT SHARE IN MAHARASHTRA

26-9-2014 3.58PM IST

Medhaj News: Medhaj News: Two of India’s biggest parties - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress – parted ways with their long-standing allies on Thursday following differences over sharing of seats in next month’s assembly elections in Maharashtra.

While The BJP and Shiv Sena ended their 25-year-old relationship that helped shape Hindu revivalist politics in the country, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) snapped ties 15 years after it allied with the Congress.

The decisions, which came barely an hour apart with the BJP making the first announcement, throw open the election field in Maharashtra where the contest could now be four cornered. This could split the electorate and possibly throw up a hung house.

The 288-member state assembly goes to the polls on October 15 and September 27 is the last day of filing election papers. The Sena, a part of the ruling combine at the Centre, said it would continue in the NDA. The Sena has 18 members in the Lok Sabha, the most for any NDA constituent after the BJP.