Bid to woo MNS shows BJP not compassionate towards north Indians: NCP

PATNA: Referring to attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra by activists of Shiv Sena and MNS, NCP today lashed out at BJP, saying that a party which takes support of the Thackerays for electoral success cannot be compassionate towards north Indians.

"How can you seek the support of jingoistic elements like Shiv Sena and MNS who brazenly attacked north Indian migrants in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra on a number of times in recent years... It proves that you are not compassionate towards north Indians," Union Minister Tariq Anwar told reporters here.

Reacting to reports that the BJP leadership had prevailed over MNS chief Raj Thackeray to not put up Lok Sabha poll candidates in Maharashtra to prevent a split in anti-Congress votes, Anwar said that the Narendra Modi-led party had gone ahead and solicited MNS's support despite his vitriolic outbursts against north Indians.

Shiv Sena, led by Udhav Thackeray, is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA alliance.

On the MNS chief publicly stating that he would do whatever he could to ensure that Modi became the next prime minister, the senior NCP leader said that had exposed BJP's gameplan for maximising its electoral success in Maharashtra.

Anwar said that a direct or indirect alliance between BJP and MNS would have an adverse bearing on the morale of north Indian migrants in Maharashtra and legitimise the latter's agenda of "hate politics".

The NCP leader also took a potshot at the internecine conflict among top BJP leaders with its national president Rajnath Singh and sitting MP Lalji Tandon fighting over the Lucknow seat while the Varanasi seat witnesses a tug-of-war between Modi and the sitting MP MM Joshi.