Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which lost power to the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, is divided over extending support to the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
Differences surfaced after the MNS unveiled its new flag, which is saffron and has the Rajmudra (royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) at its centre. The colour of the flag changed from saffron, blue and green, to simply saffron.
Former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, the BJP was in favour of allying with like-minded parties. ”The Shiv Sena was allied with the BJP for more than two-and-a-half decades because of the shared ideology of Hindutva. But the Shiv Sena broke the alliance after it decided to form the government with the Congress,” he noted.
However, former revenue minister Eknath Khadse ruled out the possibility of the MNS striking an alliance with the BJP. ”The MNS is a separate party, with its own leader and style of functioning. I don’t see the possibility of any tie-up between the BJP and the MNS,” he noted.
Khadse said even though Hindutva would be the common thread between the two parties, the BJP has a national presence and does not have a parochial stand.
On the other hand, BJP spokesman Ganesh Hake alleged that the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar was the brains behind the MNS’s unveiling of a saffron flag. ”It is a conspiracy, to divide the Hindu vote. However, this will not succeed in Maharashtra,” he opined.
However, NCP state chief and irrigation minister Jayant Patil strongly refuted Hake’s allegation. ”Is BJP so scared of NCP chief Sharad Pawar? Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently met MNS chief Raj Thackeray. So it is improper to level charges against Pawar,” he said.