MUMBAI, 17 January 2008 — The state Bharatiya Janata Party will not invite its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena, to an event to be held in Mumbai next week in honor of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has won elections in the state.
BJP spokesman Madhav Bhandari said Sena chief Bal Thackeray or party’s working President Uddhav Thackeray were not being invited to the Jan. 20 function because it was an exclusive BJP event and not one staged by the National Democratic Alliance. More than 300,000 BJP party workers are expected to attend the function at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park and preparations are in full swing to make the event a success. This is the second time that the state BJP will be honoring Modi.
The event is also likely to face “technical hurdles” due to Republic Day celebrations on Jan. 26..
BJP officials received a message from the police saying permission for using Shivaji Park could not be granted due to rehearsals for the Republic Day functions.
“We will find a solution to the problem. We are determined to hold Modi’s function at Shivaji Park,” said Prakash Mehta, president of Mumbai BJP.
As the state government’s General Administration Department headed by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh ponders over whether to grant permission for the function, Gopinath Munde, national BJP general secretary and former state deputy chief minister, has now taken up the task of getting permission from the government, Mehta said.
Mehta said the General Administration Department was creating problems for the BJP.
