NCP wants PMO's intervention in BJP-Sena slugfest

Urges BJP to seek derecognition of Sena contending it cannot be allowed to contest forthcoming Mumbai civic polls

Dubbing the war of words between BJP and Shiv Sena as detrimental to Maharashtra's progress, NCP today sought intervention of the Prime Minister's Office to end the slugfest between the ruling allies.

The opposition party also urged the BJP to seek "derecognition" of the Sena, contending that it cannot be allowed to contest the forthcoming Mumbai civic polls owing to alleged "hundreds of crores having been looted by the party in various scams".

"Both the allies are forgetting that people have given them a mandate to rule, not to create a ruckus. The daily bickering and no end to the problems being faced by people have made them lose faith in the institution of government. If this continues, people will lose faith in democracy," Pawaskar told reporters here.

"We urge the PMO to take cognisance of the melee going on in the state and put an end to this. Instead of using its mouthpiece to ask the Sena to fall out of the government, they should simply come out in the open and say they are ready for mid-term polls," he said.

The NCP's comments come in the backdrop of the intensifying war of words between the ruling allies.

A recent article in BJP's fortnightly publication 'Manogat' dared the Sena to take "divorce" and poked fun at Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray by drawing an analogy from the popular Bollywood flick "Sholay", in which the character of a jailor played by actor Asrani asks policemen to march in different directions, only to find later that no one was standing behind him.

The Sena had retorted by demanding a clarification from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said that by making "below the belt comments, the BJP probably wanted to finish off its own government".

"Being in power at the Centre and the state, it is the BJP's responsibility to seek Sena's derecognition because they had come to power on a corruption-free governance plank.

"It will be a gross injustice to the people if Sena is allowed to contest BMC polls where it has indulged in scams amounting to hundreds of crores and thereby looted people," Pawaskar alleged.

"It is shocking that a CM, who otherwise gives such good speeches in public, is from the last two years digesting the criticism aimed at his party in Sena mouthpiece," he added.