This Article is From Feb 08, 2011

Maharashtra: BJP math adds Sena to Raj Thackeray

Mumbai: Is the Shiv Sena-BJP, Maharashtra's oldest political combine, heading for shake-up?

At the BJP state executive meeting held recently, General Secretary Gopinath Munde suggested that the party now looks at the MNS, the breakaway rival of Shiv Sena, as an ally.

''In the previous Assembly elections, if you combine the vote share of 53 seats of the MNS and the Shiv Sena-BJP, we would have been ahead of the Congress-NCP alliance. It's difficult for us and the MNS to come together, but nothing is impossible in politics. Gopinath Munde can turn the impossible into possible,'' he said.

The Shiv Sena has termed Munde's comments "irrelevant."

''If there is a third party to be included, that decision will be taken by Balasaheb Thackeray and Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray. These comments are irrelevant,'' said Shiv Sena MP and the Editor of party mouthpiece 'Saamna', Sanjay Raut.

However irksome it might be to the Shiv Sena, Munde's statement is based on cold logic. Since the warring cousins split, MNS has acted as a spoiler for the Sena in many of its Marathi and saffron bastions, infact outdoing the Sena in urban centres like Mumbai and Nashik.

In the last Assembly polls, the BJP did much better than Shiv Sena. So naturally, it wants the Sena to be the more accommodating ally.

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