Shiv Sena-BJP ties to come up for review on Aug 17

Mumbai, Aug 16: BJP's strained ties with the Shiv Sena are likely to come up for review at the meeting of party state unit's office-bearers tomorrow.

The meeting assumes significance in view of the demand from senior leaders, including Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari, to terminate the 23 year old alliance after the Shiv Sena decided to back UPA candidate Pratibha Patil in the Presidential election last month.

Even though Shiv Sena backed NDA candidate Najma Heptullah for the Vice Presidency earlier this month, after BJP president Rajnath Singh telephoned Sena supremo Bal Thackeray requesting support, the state BJP leaders are irate at Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's style of functioning, sources said.

The state unit of BJP had earlier conducted a division-wise meetings of party office-bearers and workers to gauge their opinion on the continuance of the alliance.

The central leadership would be apprised of the deliberations of the meeting and a decision about the fate of the alliance would be taken by them.

In a recent editorial in ''Saamna'', Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray stressed the need for strengthening the NDA in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Even Uddhav Thackeray categorically stated that the decision of continuing the alliance will be taken by the BJP.

UNI