BJP upset with Shiv Sena's support for Pawar as PM

Mumbai: The Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is miffed with its ally Shiv Sena for declaring support for Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar as the next prime minister and urged it to clarify on the issue.

State BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said that it was in "no mood for any more compromises" with its two-decade-old ally, especially on the Sena's demand for more Lok Sabha seats.

"They should first make clear who they will support for the post of PM," Gadkari told mediapersons Thursday evening. The BJP has already announced that L.K. Advani would be its PM candidate.

Apart from the 'Pawar for PM' stand, the growing proximity between the NCP and Sena is also a cause of concern for the BJP, which is seen as virtually getting isolated in the state - a fact pointed out by the NCP.

The Sena has time and again asserted that it would support a Marathi-speaking person for the post of prime minister, "but that does not mean we are supporting Pawar," as Sanjay Raut, the party spokesman, said here Thursday.

Declaring that the Sena always rooted for Maharashtrians, Raut pointed out that during the last presidential elections, the Sena had supported Pratibha Patil, a Maharashtrian, over National Democratic Alliance candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Reacting to this, Gadkari said the Sena had earlier decided to back Advani as PM.

"If they think of supporting Pawar for the post of PM, they should clarify their stand, failing which the alliance could be in trouble," he cautioned.

Joining the debate, NCP state spokesman Madan Bafna agreed that the Sena adopted a different stand vis-a-vis the BJP-led NDA during the presidential elections and even this time the party wants to support Pawar as PM.

"Since Pawar and Sena chief Bal Thackeray are personal friends, if the Sena supports him, it will be indeed great," Bafna noted.

He told mediapersons that the deadlock over seat-sharing between the NCP and the Congress was likely to be resolved by the weekend.

Mumbai Congress president Kripa Shankar Singh also said that the seat-sharing talks, stuck on 10 seats in the state, would be resolved by this weekend.