Sena closes Laine chapter

Until a few days ago, parties raced each other to batter James Laine for his remarks in Shivaji: A Hindu King in Islamic India. Now that cam...

Until a few days ago, parties raced each other to batter James Laine for his remarks in Shivaji: A Hindu King in Islamic India. Now that campaigning is coming to an end, the game is on for blaming the other party for ‘‘politicising’’ the issue in the first place.

Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray says his party was never keen on politicising the issue and blames NCP president Sharad Pawar and Home Minister R.R. Patil for giving wind to the controversy. That the Sena was the first to object to the ‘‘adverse remarks made against Shivaji’’ after the book was published is besides the point.

And then, Pawar and R.R. Patil created an impression that during Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s visit, Thackeray had kept mum on the issue. The PM, on his part, had said the dispute should be fought ideologically.

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As Pawar and Patil made it an election issue, the Shiv Sena too ‘‘decided’’ to expose the ruling government’s stand, Uddhav said.

Bal Thackeray pulled up the state government for the errors in the book published by the state-run Literary and Cultural Affairs Board. NCP chief Pawar retorted, saying the book was submitted for printing when the Sena-BJP combine was in power.

But then, the book carried a foreword by Board president R.R. Borade and had been published last year. If the Sena-BJP combine had committed a mistake, it was no licence for the DF Government to repeat it, Uddhav said. ‘‘I know of more blunders committed by the ruling government, I will disclose them at an appropriate time,’’ he added.

Premji said that Wipro would partner with the Government "to find a lasting solution for Bengaluru's mobility challenges".

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