Pune, Jan. 25 -- In a surprising political development, the Shiv Sena factions of Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have come together locally to form an alliance to contest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the zilla parishad election in Barshi taluka in Solapur. Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Dilip Sopal made the announcement of "Maha Agadhi" on Saturday. "The two Sena factions, along with Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP), will jointly contest the zilla parishad election in Barshi," Sopal said. The two Sena factions joining hands for the first time after the party split has raised eyebrows in political circles. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, "We are unaware of the developments in Barshi. We will seek information from our local workers in the area." Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Bhaskar Jadhav welcomed the move and said, "Now, Eknath Shinde should come forward and support Shiv Sena (UBT) in Mumbai." Meanwhile, the Sena and NCP factions have also decided to follow the "Maha Aghadi" arrangement at Khed Panchayat Samiti in Pune district. Maharashtra is set to hold zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections on February 5, with vote counting scheduled for February 7....