PUNE: BJP National Vice-President Shyam Jaju on Thursday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi led by Shiv Sena in the State will not complete its five-year term. 

He was speaking at a ‘meet the press’ programme organised by the Pune Union of Working Journalists (PUWJ) in the city. 

He said, “They have come together just to keep the BJP away from power. They don’t have any common ideological ground to keep them intact. It will not last long. Such negative alliances don’t work.”

Journalists brought to Jaju’s notice that a group of other backward class (OBC) functionaries in BJP expressed their displeasure over the treatment allegedly meted out to them by the party. The leaders alleged that factions within the party were instrumental in defeating them in the State elections. These leaders held a meeting on Thursday. This fuelled speculation that these members would leave the BJP.

In his reply, Jaju ruled out the possibility of the senior functionaries leaving the party. “The party will remain intact. History has shown that those who left the BJP could not do well,” he said.

Jaju said the tie-up with Shiv Sena could not work, as voters of the State would not have accepted any compromise on the chief minister’s post. “Our alliance had given a credible face in the form of Devendra Fadnavis as CM. Replacing him would not have been welcomed by those who had voted looking at his credibility,” he added.

When asked whether BJP was trying to cut Shiv Sena down to size, he said, “BJP was one of the few parties, which has successfully run an alliance government of 24 parties under the leadership of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.”