BJP leader L.K. Advani Sunday advocated a reapprochement between the Shiv Sena and his party in Maharashtra to form a government and said their alliance should never have broken.

 

 "I hope the BJP and the Shiv Sena will come together," Advani told the media after the Maharashtra assembly election results showed the Bharatiya Janata Party short of a majority in the 288-member assembly.

 

 In comments implicitly critical of some of his BJP colleagues, Advani said it was sad the two parties' 25-year-long alliance broke just before the Oct 15 Maharashtra polls.

 

 But Advani ruled out the possibility of the BJP forming a government in Maharashtra in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party.