Shiv Sena to Contest 150 Seats in Bihar Alone

Patna: NDA-ally Shiv Sena today announced that it will contest 150 seats in the upcoming Bihar elections alone.

Denying allegations that it has targeted migrants from Bihar in Maharashtra, the party said it wants to strengthen its support base in Hindi belt and has decided to go it alone in the state, where BJP-led alliance is locked in a stiff contest with the Nitish Kumar-led coalition of JD(U)-RJD-Congress.

"Shiv Sena will contest Bihar assembly polls on its own and put up 150 candidates," party's national spokesperson Sanjay Raut told reporters on the sidelines of his party's state convention in Patna.

He said the process for selection of Shiv Sena candidates for Bihar which will go to polls in five phases from October 12 was nearly complete and the first list will be out by tomorrow.

Mr Raut said Shiv Sena will seek mandate of the people of Bihar on the agenda of Hindutva, poverty alleviation and employment generation for the local people among others.

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Quizzed why Shiv Sena had not joined the BJP-led alliance in the contest to the 243-member Bihar Assembly, he said that his party wants to strengthen its support base in Hindi belt and empower the local people.

The Shiv Sen and BJP had ended their 25-year-old alliance before the Maharashtra Assembly polls last year over seat sharing. Despite reuniting after the poll results to form the government in the state, the strain in ties has been visible with Shiv Sena being openly critical of the BJP.

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Accusing RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar of failing to usher in development despite ruling Bihar for the past 25 years, the Shiv Sena spokesperson rued that the people of the state despite being talented and hardworking have to migrate to other parts of country, including Mumbai, for work in order to sustain themselves and their families.

Asked about allegations of atrocities against migrants, including those from Bihar, in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, Mr Raut dismissed them claiming that there was no example of Shiv Sena and its workers targeting migrants and blamed politicians of Bihar for spreading canards instead of focusing on development of the state.

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"Some politicians of Bihar are more interested in happenings in Mumbai and making noise about atrocities on migrants than actually doing something for development of the state," the Shiv Sena leader said.

Outright denying that his party has antipathy for Bihar people, Mr Raut said that on the contrary the people of Maharashtra have strong emotional ties with their counterparts here and respect the Biharis for their patriotism, valour and contributions to freedom struggle.

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On the recent controversy related to Maharashtra transport department cancelling licences of thousands of taxi drivers in Mumbai hailing from Poorvanchal region apparently for their lack of knowledge of Marathi language, the Shiv Sena leader said that the issue has been blown out of proportion as the authorities only want the taxi drivers to be conversant in local language.

"It's not that decision has been taken to summarily cancel licences of taxi drivers from Bihar or Haryana....there is nothing wrong if taxi drivers are asked to be conversant in local languages, be it in Maharashtra or any other part of the country," he said.

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On the AIMIM's entry in Bihar to contest assembly polls in Seemanchal region, the Shiv Sena leader described AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi as "poison" and said that the political parties use elements like Mr Owaisi for electoral benefits during polls.