Finally, Shiv Sena gives up claim over Chimur

Mumbai, Oct 6 (UNI) Tensions between the Shiv Sena and BJP have finally eased with the former Sena agreeing to concede the Chimur seat to BJP.

In return, the BJP has agreed to forego one of the Kalyan-Dombivli seat to the Sena in the next legislative assembly elections. However, after the delimitation of the constituency, the Kalyan-Dombivli legislative assembly constituency would be divided into three - one would go in favour of Sena, while the remaining two would remain with BJP, according to Maharashtra BJP general secretary Vinod Tawade who was present during a meeting with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

The announcement was made by senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde and Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray, former Lok Sabha Speaker and MP Manohar Joshi during a news conference organised at Matoshri, the residence of Sena chief Bal Thackeray at Bandra in North West Mumbai.

The impasse which has cast a shadow over the survival of the 22-year-old alliance was finally settled after senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde met the Senior Thackeray at 1130 hrs along with Mr Tawade and MLA Eknath Khadse.

Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari was not present at the meeting as he was away in Nagpur to attend the meeting of the sugar factory's board of directors. Interestingly, Mr Gadkari was heavily criticised by Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna' yesterday, which described him as ''the killer of alliance, while praising the late Pramod Mahajan as an architect of the alliance''.

Mr Tawade said that Bal Thackeray also remembered Mahajan and said had he been there, the matter would not have been worsened.

Besides Mr Uddhav Thakeray and Mr Joshi, Shiv Sena's Subhash Desai was also present it the meeting.

Leaders of both the parties said that they would work together for the defeat of the Congress candidate.

In the 2004 assembly elections, BJP conceded the Chimur seat to Shiv Sena at the instance of then Sena leader Narayan Rane. The Sena gave the candidature to Vijay Wadettiwar, a Rane protege, who has resigned and joined the Congress recently. With his exit, the Sena has lost about 90 per cent of its power base, Mr Gadkari alleged at a news conference held in Nagpur.

However, earlier not accepting this claim, the Sena continued to demand Chimur and even had planned a rally on October 12 to show its strength.

In the house of 288, Shiv Sena has 56 seats and BJP 54. The resignation of at least three more Sena MLAs, who are Rane supporters, is expected.

In such a situation, one seat can make a lot of difference for getting the coveted post of leader of the opposition and that could be one of the reasons why both Sena and BJP were desperate for Chimur, according to political observers.

UNI