BJP to assess its relationship with Shiv Sena after Prez poll

New Delhi, June 26 (UNI) A day after Bal Thackeray's decision to support UPA-Left Presidential nominee Pratibha Patil in deference to the Maratha card, the BJP said it will assess its relationship with Shiv Sena after the polls are concluded.

Briefing newspersons about the second day's deliberations of the BJP National Executive, senior party leader Sushma Swaraj said it was sad that the party which had been a part of all the NDA's deliberations on Presidential polls had decided to distance itself at the last stage that too on a regional basis when election of a new President is a matter of concern for the entire country not confined to a region. ''Would the CPI(M) have supported the NDA if its candidate fielded were to be a Bengali?'' she asked.

The BJP was not at all surprised at the decision of Shiv Sena to support Ms Patil but certainly was 'sad', she added.

Asked about Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee too distancing itself from the NDA, she said they were part of the whole process right from the beginning. ''Only on the day of filing nomination papers we were told that their representative could not make it to Delhi because of delay in the flight.'' Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi clarified that his party cannot support the candidature of Mr Shekhawat as long as there were public rallies demanding a second term for President A P J Abdul Kalam.

BJP general secretary and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde today accused the Shiv Sena of having struck a deal with the Congress to support Ms Pratibha Patil against Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Describing the Shiv Sena's decision to support Ms Patil due to her being a Marathi, as unfortunate and one which would be etrimental to the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra, Mr Munde alleged that under the deal, the Congress would ensure that state Revenue Minister Narayan Rane was not made the next chief minister of the state.

The BJP leader also argued the Shiv Sena support to Ms Patil on the issue of Maratha pride ''holds no water'' as the Bal Thackeray-led party had sent a number of non-Marathis to the Rajya Sabha, including Mrs Chandrika Kenia, Mr Mukesh Patel, Mr P K Dhoot, Mr Sanjay Nirupam, Mr Suresh Keshwani and Mr Pritish Nandy.

Besides, it was the same party which supported Mr Shekhawat as Vice-President against Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, a senior Marathi politician, five years back.

He said the Shiv Sena's move was a serious setback to the NDA.

''How can the Shiv Sena be a part of NDA after supporting a Congress candidate, that too, against Mr Shekhawat?'' the BJP general secretary asked.

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said his party had not offered support to Congress Presidential nominee but to a Maharashtrian woman Pratibha Patil, who is getting an opportunity to reach the coveted post, and asserted the decision would not affect the Sena's 23 year old alliance with BJP.

Talking to reporters, Mr Thackeray said ''we took this different stand but it was limited to only for the presidential election and and on an earlier occasion too, the Sena-BJP combine had taken different stand during the presidential election.'' When asked about issue of Hindutva being raised by BJP, Mr Thackeray said the BJP should not teach them Hindutva and we have never given it up.'' ''We have made our displeasure in public about President A P J Abdul Kalam for his inaction on the issue of hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guru, an accused in the Parliament attack case,'' Mr Thackeray said, adding that they will convey their expectations to Ms Patil too.

''We told the BJP leaders that we wanted to take a different stand on the issue of Presidential election,'' he said, denying there was any deal between Sena and Congress in lieu of support to Ms Patil. He was replying to a question about the allegations made by BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde that Sena supported Ms Patil after getting assurance from Congress that former Sena strongman and Revenue Minister Narayan Rane will not be made Chief Minister.

Asked about Party chief Bal Thackeray's statement made on the 41st anniversary of the party recently that Sena should come to power on its own in Maharashtra, Mr Thackeray said ''everybody has the right to see their party grow.'' When asked whether Sena and BJP would be together in 2009 assembly elections, he quipped one could not predict what will happen after two years.

UNI