Sena president Uddhav Thackeray clarified on Monday that he's not averse to any pre-poll arrangement but insisted that the BJP safeguard Sainiks' sentiments and be ready for an arrangement that's acceptable to both parties.
A majority of Shiv Sena's parliamentarians want the party to form an alliance with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to avoid any division of Hindu votes, and to jointly take on the Congress-NCP combine.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray clarified on Monday that he's not averse to any pre-poll arrangement but insisted that the BJP safeguard Sainiks' sentiments and be ready for an arrangement that's acceptable to both parties. If such a deal doesn't work out, he said, Sena wouldn't mind going it alone.
He clarified that the party won't tolerate the humiliation and neglect meted out by the BJP since four-and-a-half years. They haven't received any oral or written offer from the BJP, he said, while all alliance talks are being discussed in the media alone.
Even if the BJP offers him the post of chief minister of Maharashtra, he said, he won't accept the pact if BJP doesn't give Sena enough seats to contest from in the 288-seat Assembly.
At a time when various BJP leaders are claiming the alliance is a foregone conclusion, Monday's meeting acquires significance.
A senior Sena MP said, "Uddhav recalled emotionally how seat-sharing used to be a smooth affair. That was because of the personal rapport party founder Bal Thackeray had with BJP veterans like LK Advani and the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Uddhav hoped Narenbhai would also conduct talks in a cordial manner, as a BJP leader and not as Prime Minister."
Thackeray also hoped that the BJP would support the Ram Temple issue that he had taken up by visiting Ayodhya and addressing a rally at Pandharpur. But, he recalled, the BJP didn't extend its cooperation, and though it claimed to be a strong advocate of Hindutva, kept downplaying the issue.
Another MP said Thackeray cleared the air over his purported "chowkidaar chor hai" jibe, that it was not against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that his words were twisted. The Sena chief also said the BJP targeted him often by terming he runs a mafia raj.
However, he concluded the meeting by reiterating that a final decision on the alliance would be taken only after taking MPs and party workers into confidence.
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