An “unscheduled” visit of MNS chief Raj Thackeray at BJP’s Mumbai unit office on Monday has caused tension between the BJP and its “old” NDA alliance partner Shiv Sena. The Shiv Sena, it was learnt, was so miffed with the incident that it told the BJP that it will boycott the BJP-led NDA’s protest rally on corruption issue on December 22. However, the BJP on Tuesday claimed the issue has been sorted out and Shiv Sena will attend the protest rally. MNS and Shiv Sena are considered bitter rivals.
The Shiv Sena, it was learnt, was so angry with the MNS chief’s visit to the BJP office that its executive president Uddhav Thackeray told BJP top brass that they should either take action against its Mumbai leaders who met Mr Raj Thackeray or Shiv Sena will not attend the rally. Mr Uddhav Thackeray had called BJP parliamentary party chief and NDA working chairman L.K. Advani on Monday to register his party’s displeasure over the incident.
On Tuesday, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari downplayed the incident saying that it was just a “social call” by the MNS chief who was with the Shiv Sena for several years and was visiting his party’s function near the BJP Mumbai office. Senior BJP leaders including party’s Maharashtra incharge M. Venkaiah Naidu and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj also spoke with Shiv Sena leaders on the issue.
“As far as politics is concerned, our alliance with the Shiv Sena stands today. There is no proposal to have an alliance with the MNS. The Maharashtra unit president has already clarified on the meeting,” Mr Gadkari said.
However, BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “It is a small incident and there was no need for anybody to overreact on it.”
“No Shiv Sena leader has called me after Raj met me. I only came to know through the media that Shiv Sena is upset with the meeting. If that is so, they should have called me and I would have clarified everything. It is a small incident and there was no need for anybody to overreact on it,” Mr Mungantiwar said.