Sena-BJP patch-up against backdrop of mid-term polls

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Mumbai, Sep 11 (UNI) Against the backdrop of a possibility of mid-term polls in the country, a patch-up between Shiv Sena and BJP has apparently been reached as both of them need each other in Maharashtra and the issue of 'Hindutva' is common to them.

The alliance, which had contested seven general and four Assembly elections since 1984 and even rose to power in the state in 1995, was going through a rough patch after Shiv Sena supported UPA's nominee Pratibha Patil in the Presidential election on the grounds that she is the first Maharashtrian to reach the high office.

This apparently had irked many BJP leaders, with state BJP president Nitin Gadkari leaving no chance to attack the Sena from the forefront.

Mr Gadkari has always maintained that they respect Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray like BJP leaders like Atal Bihar Vajpayee and L K Advani, but he was not ready to accept some of the decisions that the Sena had taken recently.

The two parties were at loggerheads during the by-elections to Daryapur and Chimur Lok Sabha seats, as the BJP had staked claim to the Chimur seat. Finally, BJP's wish was fulfilled but it lost the seat.

BJP leaders were also annoyed when Shiv Sena, in its mouthpiece Saamna, openly supported Sharad Pawar for the premiership.

''We had told Shiv Sena leaders that if they were going to support Congress candidate (Pratibha Patil) for presidency and Mr Pawar for premiership, then we were not interested in keeping the alliance intact,'' Mr Gadkari told UNI from New Delhi where he had gone to attend the meeting of the two parties.

Apart from this, Shiv Sena's 'different' stand on supporting Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, against former Sena strongman and Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, did not find favour with the BJP leaders.

Mr Gadkari said during today's luncheon meeting of the Sena-BJP leaders, attended by Mr Advani, general secretary Gopinath Munde, BJP president Rajnath Singh, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, Manohar Joshi and himself, the Sena leaders agreed in principle that they will not support Mr Pawar for the premiership.

Stating that the party's support to Mrs Patil was a 'past', the Sena leaders agreed to work together against the Congress-NCP alliance.

Interestingly, when the Sena-BJP alliance was under pressure, several media reports had indicated that the BJP might enter into an alliance with Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

However, now the alliance between Shiv Sena-BJP remaining intact, the possibility of a new political formation in Maharashtra has been ruled out.

UNI

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X