Summary:
According to a senior minister from the Fadnavis cabinet, it is likely that BJP chief Amit Shah would fly down to Mumbai for the announcement of the BJP-Sena alliance. Word was awaited from the parties on Thursday night itself when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray met at the latter's residence, Matoshri, in Bandra. An alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena to contest the upcoming general elections together would be announced in the week following this Sunday. On Thursday, senior ministers from BJP and Sena including Chandrakant Patil and Subhash Desai were present when Fadnavis met with Thackeray. When it became clear that the two were certain to join forces for the summer polls, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut floated the idea of regaining 'big brother' status for his party..