Apart from south Gujarat, Shiv Sena will contest in Saurashtra and Kutch regions (File Photo)
The Shiv Sena will field its candidates from 50 to 75 seats in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls next month, a senior party leader said today. An ally of the BJP, the regional outfit also maintained it will not enter into an alliance with any party in Gujarat, including the BJP.
Apart from south Gujarat, the party will contest in Saurashtra and Kutch regions, he said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party had contested around 40 seats in the 2012 Assembly elections in Gujarat, but failed to open its account in the state where the BJP is in power for over two decades. The state has 182 Assembly seats.
Senior Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai told reporters in Ahmedabad that the party's national executive has decided to contest the Assembly polls in Gujarat.
"The party's national executive met recently and decided that we will contest the Gujarat Assembly elections. After consulting our leaders here, we have decided to field candidates from 50-75 seats," he said.
The party has presence in several pockets of the state, especially where the population of Marathi speaking people is high like south Gujarat. Mr Desai said.
He said the party will stick to its core Hindutva ideology to attract voters and not enter into any kind of pact with either the ruling BJP or any other party.
The Sena and the BJP are partners in the ruling coalitions at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
"We are an alternative and we do not need to partner with the BJP for the Gujarat elections. We will contest polls on our core Hindutva ideology plank," Mr Desai said.