Three 'Mahayuti' parties quit alliance; accuse Shiv Sena-BJP of betrayal

Mumbai: Upset over 'paltry' allocation of seats for the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly polls, three small parties of the Shiv Sena-BJP led 'Mahayuti' said they have decided to quit the combine and accused the saffron constituents of "back-stabbing" them.

"Shiv Sena and BJP have stabbed us in the back. SSP, RSP and Shivsangram have decided to leave 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) and contest the Assembly polls jointly," SSP leader Sadabhau Khot said on Wednesday.

"We will declare our joint list of candidates this evening," Khot said.

He said they were brought into the grand alliance by late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, "we trusted him and came into 'Mahayuti'. But our house is being burnt while trying to douse fire in their (Sena and BJP) houses."

"By giving seven seats to four constituents (including RPI), they (Sena and BJP) have insulted us," the farmers' leader from western Maharashtra said, adding we apologise to people of Maharashtra for our mistake in aligning with such parties.

He alleged that there was a systematic plan to oust them from the Mahayuti.

"We had asked Sena and BJP two months ago if we had become a burden for them. We will go to people and organise a Sangharsh yatra in the state to expose our betrayal," Khot said.

"We were used. They offered us seven seats. We said we don't want a single seat. Instead, at last night's meeting, we asked that RPI leader Ramdas Athawale and RSP leader Mahadev Jankar be made Chief Minister by rotation," he said.

Khot alleged that everyone tried to get more seats by using them.

"Both the parties (Sena and BJP) indulged in that. We will tell this to people of Maharashtra and expose them," he said. While, Jankar said, the Sena and BJP stabbed us in the back.

"They stabbed us while talking sweetly. We will expose their real face to people of Maharashtra," Jankar said.

"They treated us like beggars. Now we won't go to them. They should come to us if they want to talk to us," he said.