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Tiff with Sena: BJP refuses to give up Chimur seat

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BS Reporter New Delhi/Mumbai
Last Updated : Jun 14 2013 | 5:25 PM IST
The National Democratic Alliance's (NDA's) disintegration in Maharashtra appears to have begun with state BJP President Nitin Gadkari today saying the party will not give the Chimur seat to the Shiv Sena.
 
This despite former BJP President LK Advani's attempt to patch up with his party's oldest ally. "Such small issues will not affect the relationship that has been maintained over the years," he said in Bhopal.
 
Senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi said his party leaders had conveyed their feelings to the Sena chief. "I don't think such an old alliance should break over a single seat", Joshi said.
 
The latest episode, however, underlines the BJP's souring ties with allies in most states. Following splits in the Shiv Sena""first by the exit of Narayan Rane and later Bal Thackeray's nephew Raj""the BJP thinks it can talk from a position of strength.
 
This, experts say, is the source of the latest face-off. In 1997, the BJP contested the Chimur seat and lost by 7,000 votes. In 1999, the seat was won by an Independent and in 2004, by the Shiv Sena. Now, the Independent who contested as a BJP candidate has joined the party.
 
However, Sena insiders believe this is an excuse by the BJP to dump its oldest ally and switch to Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.
 
Some BJP leaders said the dispute was result of absence of a strong leader after the death of Pramod Mahajan.
 
"I am sure the Sena leadership will understand that giving up their claim over Chimur seat is in their own interest and also that of the alliance," BJP leader Prakash Jawadekar said.
 
It is this big-brother attitude that has annoyed the BJP's other allies as well. In Punjab, the Akali Dal has offered the BJP 15 seats against the 23 last time. "Take it or leave it was the attitude of SS Dhindsa, who negotiated on their behalf," said an angry HS Grewal, a party office-bearer in Punjab.
 
In Bihar, the JD(U)-led government, which has a BJP deputy chief minister, is for all intents and purposes a JD(U) government. The BJP wields very little influence, for which Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi was pulled up by the RSS at a recent meeting.
 
In Orissa too, the BJP's ties with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are on the rocks, especially on the POSCO issue. In Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu has steered his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) away from the BJP and has struck an alliance with his most vocal critic, the CPI(M). In Assam, the collapse of the ties with the AGP allowed the Congress to win for an unprecedented second successive term.

 
 

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First Published: Oct 06 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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