India, Dec. 25 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday sought to play down the political impact of the newly announced alliance between Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) ahead of the upcoming civic elections, with senior leaders dismissing the reunion as a desperate bid for survival.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and BJP leaders Ashish Shelar and Chandrashekhar Bawankule were among those who launched scathing attacks on the cousins, who ended a two-decade-long political feud earlier this year and formally announced their alliance on Wednesday ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elect...