Sena trains guns on Raj

MUMBAI: Bal Thackeray���s nearly disappointing show at the much-hyped rally at Shivaji Park on Sunday, which was also attended by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, seems to have added to the frustration in the Shiv Sena. A day after the Sena patriarch failed to pump adrenaline into the Sena cadres, Sena satraps let it fly.

Veteran Sena leader and spokesperson Subhash Desai on Monday singled out Raj Thackeray���s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for a verbal attack. Surprisingly, the criticism of Raj comes a day after the Shiv Sena chief observed a complete silence on his rebellious nephew at the Shivaji Park rally.

Mr Desai accused Raj of ���hypocrisy and double-standards��� on slum regularisation issue. The Sena spokesperson was reacting to the MNS manifesto which supports regularisation of slums that have come up till the year 2000 in Mumbai. Mr Desai recalled Raj���s stand on the mushrooming of slums in Mumbai two years back.

���Mr Thackeray had demanded action against corporators responsible for letting illegal slums come up. Now, he has taken up cudgels for the regularisation of the same slums, it���s vote-bank politics,��� Mr Desai said. Mr Desai also hit out at MNS for what he termed as its invitation to outsiders with ���open arms���. ���It���s an open secret now as to who instigated mobs against Bihari youths at Kalyan railway station,��� he said.

Mr Desai charged that the MNS had fielded its nominees on all 227 seats so that the Congress gets the benefit of division of ���Marathi��� votes. Ironically, the Shiv Sena had earlier dismissed MNS as a trivial thing. ���That does not mean that we should not take note of trivial things,��� Mr Desai said.