Uddhav Thackeray met the Sena lawmakers at his residence ''Matoshree'' in Mumbai's Bandra. (File)
Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray asked the party lawmakers on Tuesday to "leave the issue of alliance with BJP to him" and focus on the issues of their constituencies.
The Sena Chief's remark came a day after senior party leader Sanjay Sanjay Raut said the party will continue to be the "big brother" in any alliance in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena, last year in January, had declared that it would go alone in future elections, but there has been no formal notification to the BJP that their alliance has ended.
"The Sena will fight this election with all its strength. All the sitting lawmakers should focus on issues related to their constituencies and if they don't feel confident of winning again, they should make way for others," Mr Thackeray's close aide Harshal Pradhan said on Tuesday, quoting the party chief.
Mr Thackeray met the Sena lawmakers at his residence ''Matoshree'' in Mumbai's Bandra.
Mr Pradhan yet again underlined on party's behalf that there has been no communication from the BJP on the alliance for the general election.
"Last year, BJP president Amit Shah visited Matoshree to meet Uddhav ji and decided to keep in touch. However, after that there has been no communication from the BJP," he said.
Mr Raut on Monday, in this regard, had said the Sena is "not waiting for any proposal to be offered to us".
"Shiv Sena is the big brother (in the alliance with BJP and other parties) in Maharashtra and will continue to remain so," he had told reporters.
Later in the day, in an apparent reference to Sena's "big brother" claim, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tried to clarify that BJP is "not desperate". "BJP does want an alliance with the Shiv Sena but we are not desperate for it. We want the alliance as custodians of Hindutva and a strong force against corruption," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)