Pune debacle: Sena supremo blasts BJP

Stung by the debacle in Pune Municipal Corporation, Sena chief Bal Thackeray today lashed out at its ally BJP in Maharashtra, saying it was mistreating allies for narrow political purposes.

In an editorial in ' Saamna' on Tuesday, Thackeray accused the BJP of riding piggyback on regional parties and mistreating its allies. Thackeray said, " the BJP says it is a national party but has succeeded only with the help of regional parties. In Punjab, it has problems with the Akali Dal and in Maharashtra, BJP is constantly straining relations with us till breaking point." The provocation for Thackeray's attack on BJP was the election of BJP leader Ganesh Bidkar as Chairman of the Pune Municipal Corporation Standing Committee. The Sena had also fielded a candidate and asked the BJP for support.

But the BJP candidate won with help of MNS and NCP. " On one hand BJP leader Gopinath Munde says there will be no alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party or Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and now they get their partyman elected with help of MNS and NCP," the editorial said.

Meanwhile, the BJP leader of opposition in state legislature asserted that the experiments like the one in Pune would continue, adding fuel to the fire ignited by Munde's advocacy of MNS joining the saffron combine. It may be noted that Munde had created political ripples by announcing his intentions to rope in the Raj Thackeray's MNS in an anti-Congress alliance to grab power in the state.

However, he said in Nagpur on Monday that this would not be at the cost of their two-decade-old ally Shiv Sena.

"We will consult the Sena before making any move to actually get the MNS in the alliance. But at the same time the BJP and I personally firmly believe that a new combination will have to be tried to build up a formidable alliance to ensure ouster of the Congress- NCP DF government in the next state elections. To broadbase the anti- Congress alliance, the BJP is not averse to taking help from MNS. Similarly, the Republican Party of India factions could also be taken in our fold as even a three per cent additional vote could swing the outcome in our favour," said Munde.