Nitin Gadkari responds to Raj Thackeray's comments that the BJP leader deserves to be Maharashtra Chief Minister. Chandran Iyer reports
Nitin Gadkari responds to Raj Thackeray's comments that the BJP leader deserves to be Maharashtra Chief Minister. Chandran Iyer reports
On Sunday evening, while addressing a large gathering at Nigdi near Pune, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray announced that India needs a PM like Narendra Modi and Maharashtra sorely needs a chief minister like BJP leader Nitin Gadkari.
This statement triggered speculation about the MNS and BJP trying to form an alliance in the ensuing Maharashtra Assembly polls. In a bid to put an end to the rumours that followed, Nitin Gadkari, president of Maharashtra BJP, said, "I thank Raj for his belief in me, but I am not interested in being the chief minister."
Gadkari added that what Raj had said was his personal opinion, and that it was his nature to make such observations. But there is no friction between the BJP and the Shiv Sena and there is no possibility of forming any political equation with the MNS.
"I am happy to be an active worker of my party. We will continue with our alliance with the Shiv Sena during the forthcoming Assembly polls," said Gadkari.u00a0u00a0
The BJP and the Sena have been allies since the late 1980s. Both parties are votaries of the Hindutva ideology.
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The two-decade-old alliance betweenu00a0 the Shiv Sena and BJP in Maharashra was affected in 2007 when the Sena decided to back UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil instead of the NDA candidate Bhaironsingh Shekawat in the presidential elections.
The relations between the two parties had become so strained that BJP President Rajnath Singh had to convene a meeting between Uddhavu00a0 Thackeray and Gadkari in New Delhi in September 2007 so that the leaders could iron out their differences.
Neelam Gorhe, spokesperson, Shiv Sena, told MiD DAY that she had nothing to say on the issue.
