Shiv Sena settles for simultaneous polls

MUMBAI, JUNE 23: Alliance partners Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party BJP have set their differences aside and agreed in principle to...

MUMBAI, JUNE 23: Alliance partners Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party BJP have set their differences aside and agreed in principle to hold elections to the State Legislative Assembly along with the Lok Sabha elections.

A senior BJP Minister said Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde held a marathon meeting with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and convinced him of the need to hold simultaneous elections 8220;in the interest of the alliance.8221;

Thackeray had, on Sunday, declared that under no circumstance would he agree to simultaneous polls since the Sena-BJP alliance had been elected for a full five-year term and that it would be unwise to advance the Assembly elections by six months. However, political considerations prompted Thackeray to do a rethink.

8220;The official announcement on simultaneous elections was to be made on Tuesday, after the meeting of the coordination committee. However, owing to the absence of State BJP president Suryabhan Wahadane, the decision was postponed. Now, the decision will beannounced in a day or two by senior party leaders,8221; the Minister added.

Soon after Parliament was dissolved, both Chief Minister Narayan Rane and Munde had declared they were in favour of simultaneous elections, believing the alliance would benefit from a favourable atmosphere.

However, while Munde subsequently maintained there was no change in his stand, Rane did a volte face upon Thackeray8217;s directives.

The BJP8217;s contention was that it would be wise to hold simultaneous polls in view of the changed political situation in the country, particularly the sympathy wave for the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government.

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Further, with the Congress having split, simultaneous polls would help the alliance. 8220;We feel that if simultaneous elections are held, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar will be in no position to concentrate on Maharashtra. In that case, there will be large-scale division of Congress votes, which will benefit the alliance,8221; the Minister added.

However, the Shiv Sena took the standthat the alliance would lose a precious five months, if the elections were advanced. 8220;On some occasions, one does have to take political decisions, but in this case, we feel we should not go in for simultaneous polls. In the remaining four months, we will be able to perform better, which will help the alliance improve its performance in the Assembly elections,8221; said a Shiv Sena Minister.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer D K Sankaran said his department was prepared to hold simultaneous elections after July 21.