'Sin to Back Manjhi': Sena's New Barb at BJP and a Contrasting Wedding Photo

Just a day after Uddhav Thackeray attended the wedding reception of BJP chief Amit Shah's son, his party Shiv Sena has come out with another sharp editorial attacking its ally, this time on Bihar politics.

The Sena has accused the BJP of supporting Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has refused to step down as Bihar chief minister despite his Janata Dal United party choosing Nitish Kumar for the post.

"The BJP is playing Manjhi against Nitish Kumar and this game will end with the trust vote. But supporting Manjhi is like inviting dark times," the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in the mouthpiece Saamana today.

"Manjhi had said that he used to get commission for development projects...No one should commit a sin like supporting such a person for political gains," said the Sena, which co-governs Maharashtra with the BJP.

Nitish Kumar, who paraded over 100 legislators before President Pranab Mukherjee last week, has accused PM Modi and the BJP of "scripting" the Bihar crisis and helping Mr Manjhi, who has been asked by governor KN Tripathi to take a floor test on Friday.

"The floor test is to give time for horse-trading. It started after Manjhi met the Prime Minister," Nitish Kumar alleged.

Last week, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had described the Aam Aadmi Party's historic win in Delhi as a "tsunami", in what was seen as a taunt for a decimated BJP.

The latest barb comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bonhomie with Sena rival Sharad Pawar raised speculation of possible political realignments amid the BJP's worsening ties with its oldest ally.

Speaking in Mr Pawar's hometown Baramati, PM Modi said, "I speak to Sharad Pawar more than two times a month. Sharad Pawar has always thought of farmers' plight. The media will pull out old tapes of what Modi has said earlier and what Pawar has said earlier. We have different beliefs but the national interest is priority."