CM tries to make amends with Sena

Mumbai: While relations between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have soured considerably following the recent attacks and counter attacks, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has tried to soothe the frayed nerves by saying that he was an impassioned admirer of the late Sena supreme, Bal Thackeray.

His statements have come on the backdrop of BJP chief, Amit Shah claiming that his party will trounce Sena if the alliance does not materialise before the Lok Sabha elections. Hitting back, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had said, “The one who will trounce is yet to be born”.

Speaking at a promotional event of the upcoming ‘Thackeray’ movie in Nagpur, Mr Fadnavis said that he is an ardent admirer of Balasaheb. He also recalled memories of Balasaheb’s rallies in Nagpur.

When asked about the alliance Mr Fadnavis said, “During 1995 when the BJP was in alliance with the Sena for the first time, the troubles and issues were sorted out by late Gopinath Munde and late Pramod Mahajan convincing Balasaheb. He was large hearted and that is why have come this far. This time too we (Fadnavis-Uddhav) will find a solution.”

A senior BJP minister too confirmed that there will be an alliance and talks will begin very soon. “It is true that the possibility of an alliance looked remote after the remarks were made recently. But we are confident that BJP and Sena leaders will come together to forge an alliance,” he said.

“If the Sena goes solo, they will not win more than four seats in Lok Sabha polls,” he claimed.

A senior Sena minister said that members of the Parliament and legislators are keen to contest the elections as an alliance. “Several MPs of the party have informed the party chief that they will not contest the LS polls if Sena decides to go alone,” he said.

NCP chief Sharad Paw-ar, senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut were also present at the event.