Devendra Fadnavis hopeful of breakthrough in talks with Shiv Sena

NEW DELHI: Voicing confidence of a breakthrough in talks with Shiv Sena, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said it has been a friend of BJP and the two parties will remain friends in the future.

“Shiv Sena has always been a friend and in future we will be friends,” Fadnavis said at a seminar in New Delhi.

The comment by the chief minister comes two days after Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who was BJP’s Maharashtra in charge, hoped that something good will emerge out of the talks between the two parties.

There is growing pressure from the ranks of both parties to patch up and be part of the ruling alliance in a bid to keep the NCP at a distance.

Fadnavis said the RSS was not mediating between Shiv Sena and BJP, who parted ways just ahead of the assembly polls due to differences over seat-sharing.

On the confidence vote, the Maharashtra chief minister said, “I have never faced so much criticism in 22 years of my political life as much I faced in the three days after facing no confidence motion.”