Shat pratishat BJP does not frighten Sena

Udhav Thackeray said the alliance between the Shiv Sena and the BJP is for the cause of the Hindus and if the BJP feels that it can take up the cause on its own, then Shiv Sena has absolutely no objection.

Udhav Thackeray made it clear that there was no threat to the alliance from the Shiv Sena. However, at the same time, he expected a similar gesture from the BJP, at least for the cause of Hinduism.

Ever since its declaration of Shat pratishat BJP all over Maharashtra at the one-day convention of the party in Nasik on May 13, an uneasy calm prevailed in the BJP as well as Sena circles. Workers at the grassroots level in both the parties assumed that in view of the announcement, the alliance between the Sena and BJP hangs in balance.

According to a Shiv Sena MP, no doubt BJP has its own action plan and programme, but the new agenda has endangered the electoral alliance between the two parties. "BJP very well knows that on its own, it is not in a position to capture even 35 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly and two parliamentary seats from the State. BJP could muster the existing strength only after it reached an electoral understanding with the Shiv Sena," the Sena MP said.

The MP pointed out that on one hand, it was talking of Shat pratishat BJP and on the other hand, on its own, it was unable to form the government in any of the states or at the Centre.