Sena spread wings outside State

Sena intends to contest elections independently in other states also and a final decision in this regard was awaited, Joshi, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, said.

To ascertain the views of various state unit chiefs on the proposed national executive, a three-day-long meeting began at the party8217;s headquarters in Central Mumbai on Monday.

Besides Joshi, Sena leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Satish Pradhan, Mohan Rawle, Subhash Desai and Sanjay Nirupam held discussions with the party chiefs of Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, MadhyaPradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.

Sena chief Bal Thackeray would address the State unit chiefs on January 19, Joshi said.

Asked about the prospects of Sena on national level, Joshi said, 8220;The party is receiving tremendous response all over the nation.8221;

To a query, whether Sena would support Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani8217;s candidature for Rajya Sabha, Joshi said, 8220;Jethmalani recently met Thackeray but any decision in this regard has not been taken so far.8221;

Karmapa should return 8212; Thackeray
MUMBAI: Sena chief Thackeray during an internet chat said that India should ask the Karmapa to return to China. 8220;We already have enough troubles with China and we should not let the Karmapa8217;s stay in India or the asylum issue cause any deterioration in Indo-Chinese relations,8221; he said during the internet chat organised by expressindia.com on Saturday.

8212; ENS