India, Feb. 19 -- After mudslinging at each other for the last four and a half years, the BJP and Shiv Sena on February 19 ended the speculation of parting ways by announcing alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly polls. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats; stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena's "core beliefs" are the same, both the parties agreed to a 25-23 seat-sharing formula for the general election with the BJP getting 25 and Shiv Sena getting 23 constituencies. However, for the assembly polls, the parties decided to share an equal number of seats after accommodating other allies. Soon after the official alliance was announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that "the association between the two parti...