Shooting down the proposal of Gopinath Munde, the senior
BJP leader and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha to enroll the MNS in
the Sena –BJP alliance, Thackeray in a lead editorial in the party mouthpiece
Saamna published on Tuesday said that there was no place for the MNS as a third
partner in the Sena-BJP alliance.
“We do not need any third party in our alliance. The Sena
had forged an alliance with the BJP on the issue of Hindutva agenda and we have
fought boldly with several who had tried to come into our way so far. The Sena-BJP
alliance is capable of responding and tackling any problems that face the state
of Maharashtra. Therefore there is no need for a third partner in the
alliance,” Thackeray stated in the editorial.
There was speculation in the media last week that in the
next year’s Mumbai Municipal Corporation civic polls, there was a strong
possibility of MNS joining hands with the Sena-BJP alliance and contesting the
polls as a third partner of the alliance. Rumors floated in the political
circles of the state of possibility of MNS joining the alliance, after the MNS
chief paid a surprise visit last year to the state BJP headquarters and held a
closed door meeting with key BJP leaders.
Recently Munde had indicated to the media that the
possibility of MNS joining hands with the Sena and BJP in order to pull down
the Congress – Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led Democratic Front government
in the state. Munde referred to the division of saffron votes during the last
Assembly polls due to the MNS factor, which he said could be avoided in the
civic polls in Mumbai next year, and this could only be possible if the MNS is
taken into the alliance, he stated.
The Sena chief commenting on Munde’s proposal wrote: “Our
affection for Munde is beyond imagination of anyone. But Munde’s view may be
due to a national perspective while working at the BJP national level. However,
we believe in the ‘family planning’ formula of one or two is enough,” Thackeray
added.
Thackeray claimed in the editorial that the Sena-BJP
alliance was faring extremely well in the state and that some detractors of
theirs were deliberately spread rumors and gossiping about a rift in the
alliance. “ It is correct that both the Sena and BJP may not agree on all
issues and there could be differences, but then one must realized that
continuing with the alliance ties for the past 22 years is not an easy task.
And this has caused jealousy amongst the opponents who try to create fissures,”
Thackeray stated concluding that he was happy that two senior BJOP leaders
Nitin Gadkari and Gopinath Munde from Maharashtra are the leading figures in
the BJP and in top positions in the party.
