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Updated: Jan 28, 2019 19:18 IST

The Shiv Sena on Monday insisted that it is the senior partner in the alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra and will always remain so. But Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the BJP wants an alliance but it isn’t helpless.

“We are the big brother in Maharashtra, we were the big brother and will stay the big brother,” Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said after a party meeting in Mumbai, according to ANI.

CM Fadnavis said the BJP wants an alliance to keep those who looted the nation out of power. “BJP is not helpless, yes we want alliance but for development of nation. BJP is the party which reached 200 from 2,” he said.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut after party meeting in Mumbai: We are the big brother in Maharashtra, we were the big brother and will stay the big brother. pic.twitter.com/xnjddcv3rz — ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2019

When it comes to numbers, the BJP is ahead with 121 members in the 289-member legislative assembly against the Shiv Sena’s 63. In the Lok Sabha, 18 Shiv Sena MPs were elected from Maharashtra out of 48 seats while the BJP won in 23 seats.

The alliance between the two parties has come under strain in the wake of the Shiv Sena’s unsparing criticism of the BJP over a range of issues.

Earlier his month, BJP president Amit Shah in a veiled warning to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that if no alliance happens for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP would crush its ex-allies like its opponents

Shah’s warning drew a prompt response from the Shiv Sena which threatened to ‘bury the BJP.’