By IANS,
New Delhi/Mumbai : Terming as “belated” the Left parties’ decision to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Shiv Sena Tuesday reiterated it would remain with the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the event of a trust vote.
Shiv Sena legislator Sanjay Raut told IANS his party “was, is and will always continue to be with the NDA” – and will act accordingly.
He added that the Left parties could have withdrawn support to the UPA much earlier over such issues as terrorism, farmers’ suicides or inflation.
While speaking to IANS in New Delhi, Anant Geete, party leader in the Lok Sabha, clarified that the Shiv Sena would agree with any decision taken in an NDA meeting on the political situation Wednesday.
“We are part of NDA. Its decision would be our decision,” Geete added.
Geete refuted media reports that it could support the UPA government in the event of a floor test over the India-US civil nuclear deal – which led the Left to severe its ties with the UPA.
The Shiv Sena has 13 MPs and has in the past gone against the rest of the NDA. It openly backed UPA candidate Pratibha Patil in the presidential election last year against the BJP’s candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.