Nuclear deal drives BJP, Shiv Sena further apart

MUMBAI: The saffron alliance in Maharashtra finds itself in the eye of yet another storm. The Shiv Sena’s decision to stay away from the NDA meet on the Indo-US nuclear deal has angered many in the BJP, so much so that the party’s central leadership is planning to give the go-ahead for the state unit to snap ties with the Sena.

Coming as it does in the wake of Sena’s decision to support the Congress candidate, Pratibha Patil, in the presidential polls, the BJP has taken the Sena’s second act of defiance more seriously. None of the Sena MPs showed up at a meeting convened by the NDA last week to chalk out a strategy on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Not only that, the Sena has, in fact, indirectly supported the Congress on the issue. The Sena mouthpiece, Samnaa, criticised the Left for opposing the Congress on the Indo-US deal. “Everyone should be supporting the deal. It’s in India’s interest,” the Sena said. After this, Sena leaders have stayed clear of the NDA’s anti-nuclear deal programmes.

This has ruffled many a feather in the BJP, particularly in the state unit. A large section in the state BJP has been giving vent to its anti-Sena feelings for quite some time now. Even state BJP president Nitin Gadkari has publicly aired his anti-Sena feelings. The BJP’s central leadership, however, wanted to go slow on the issue. This has given a breather to the saffron alliance.

Later, the Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray claimed that Rajnath Singh wanted the alliance to continue. But Mr Gadkari quickly refuted it, saying: “There is no commitment for continuation of alliance from Mr Singh.”

This was followed by the Sena’s unannounced boycott of the NDA meet on the nuclear deal. “The Sena has not bothered to inform us about its stand over the issue, though it has made public statements about it,” a BJP leader said. “The Sena supports Sharad Pawar for the prime ministership. It stands by the Congress candidate in presidential elections. So what’s left in it as an Opposition party,” former president of the state BJP unit, Gopinath Munde, asked.

The BJP is waiting for the Sena’s official stand on the nuclear deal. “If it formally supports the Congress, it will be the last day of the 20-year alliance,” a BJP leader said.