Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde on Sunday claimed that 15 candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had sought his party's election symbol to contest the Delhi assembly elections, but he refused due to religion.
The Shiv Sena, who is in the Mahayuti coalition government of Maharashtra, is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who won the Delhi Assembly elections.
Eknath Shinde said that a total of 15 candidates of AAP contacted me. I felt that if they got the bow and arrow election symbol, then votes would be divided between BJP and Shiv Sena, which would benefit other parties. So I refused.
The Shiv Sena chief said that he had to respect Yuti Dharma (commitment to coalition). Shinde had a birthday on Sunday and has turned 61 years old. He said in a program in Thane city that I had asked my MPs to campaign for BJP candidates in the Delhi Assembly elections.
Eknath Shinde said that the BJP has dusted AAP by winning 48 of the 70 assembly seats in Delhi. AAP got only 22 seats, while top leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia suffered defeat.
Eknath Shinde said that many people including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have greeted him for birthday. Shinde said that PM Modi and Amit Shah congratulated me as Eknath Shinde, not as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
