Sena fumes as BJP gives ally the cold shoulder

Party sources maintained that it was not a question of a candidate8217;s individual merit, but a norm that has to be observed while functioning as an alliance. When told that the BJP has announced it would reach out to the Sena on the issue, the source said, 8220;Why didn8217;t they speak to us beforehand?8230;they should have invited us to the meeting.8221;

According to the sources, former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, who was in New Delhi, left for Mumbai on Saturday evening after no invitation reached him for the NDA meeting. The sources said the Sena had made it clear that it would attend NDA meetings once the presidential poll was over. The BJP should have been more appreciative of electoral compulsions of a party, they claimed.

BJP sources said the Sena has lodged a protest with party President Rajnath Singh over the outbursts of General Secretary Gopinath Munde and Maharashtra unit President Nitin Gadkari. Singh had apparently called up Joshi to sort out the strains. Joshi heard him out and then called him back after discussing the matter with Sena chief Bal Thackeray and Executive President Uddhav Thackeray.

The former Speaker has asked the BJP chief to advise both leaders to be mindful of what they say.