The Shiv Sena said on Thursday that the BJP is now courting it as the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra Government has entered a "dangerous" fifth year.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party, which is a partner in the BJP-led alliance in the State and Centre, also asked Fadnavis to explain in which areas, as per his claim, the State has reached number one position.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece "Saamana" quoted Fadnavis's recent statement that a Sena-BJP alliance in the next year's Lok Sabha and State elections was necessary for preventing division of Hindutva votes.
"(Senior BJP leader and Minister) Chandrakant Patil and (State BJP chief) Raosaheb Danve's new-found love for the Sena stems from the fact that the fifth year is dangerous for the Fadnavis Government," it said.
It further asked if the BJP was so worried about division of Hindutva votes, why did it break up the alliance before the 2014 Assembly elections.