Mumbai, September 25: After slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for pushing nationalistic narrative over Article 370, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday asked if the BJP could have crossed the 300-seat mark in the Lok Sabha elections had the Pulwama terror attack followed by airstrikes in Pakistan's Balakot not happened. The remarks are followed by differences that emerged between the Shiv Sena and BJP over seat-sharing ahead of next month's Maharashtra Assembly elections. Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2019: BJP-Shiv Sena Alliance Talks Go Awry Over Seat Sharing.

"Pulwama and Balakot became an election issue for the BJP. Had Pulwama not happened, would the BJP have crossed the 300-seat mark?" Shiv Sena asked in its mouthpiece Saamana. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party further said that Army chief Bipin Rawat's statement that 500 terrorists were ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir from Balakot was "worrisome" at a time when elections are held in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2019: Seat-Sharing Worse Than Partition, Says Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.

"During this time, the army chief has informed that 500 ‘Jaish’ (JeM) terrorists are ready to infiltrate into India from Balakot… This is worrying because there is an election in Maharashtra," Saamana editorial said. Though Shiv Sena clarified that Rawat's intent was not to help any political party, it added that such statements have an “impact on the political atmosphere”.

"No information on what is happening in Kashmir is being put out currently. But it is important that the information on Balakot was brought forward by the army chief… The opposition has said that with elections around the corner, topics such as Balakot are being discussed and that the army chief should stay clear of statements that may favour a political party," Shiv Sena said.

Earlier in Saamana editorial, Shiv Sena took a swipe at BJP, saying since the ruling party had already decided everything, the formality of pressing the EVM button was left in the name of elections.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2019 04:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).