Three-party alliance was almost final in 2017, says BJP's Ashish Shelar; NCP denies

Former minister Ashish Shelar has revealed that the BJP and NCP were in talks to form a three-party coalition government in 2017. However, the NCP demanded to exclude Shiv Sena, said the BJP leader.

BJP leader and former minister Ashish Shelar made an explosive revelation that the BJP and NCP were in talks to join hands in 2017 for a stable government in Maharashtra.

While speaking to a Marathi daily in Mumbai on Wednesday, Shelar also said that the NCP had demanded to exclude Shiv Sena from a three-party coalition government.

Shelar added that the seat-sharing formula and even ministry portfolios were finalised with the NCP for the 2019 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls. "But the message was clear from the Centre that the BJP will not ditch Shiv Sena as they shared common ideology on Hindutva," he said.

Later, while speaking to India Today, Shelar also said that the Sena was sharing power with the BJP yet making statements against the government. "In this situation, there was a proposal that the NCP would join hands with us and we could have a stable government. But NCP denied accommodating Shiv Sena and wanted them out," Shelar said.

He added that the BJP did not betray Sena and followed the dharma of the alliance. "However, Sena, after the 2019 polls, backstabbed us for the chief minister post and joined NCP-Congress to form Maha Vikas Aghadi government," alleged Shelar.