Raj calls on Advani, Vajpayee

Following the split in the Shiv Sena, both factions of Sena are trying to keep the BJP in good humour.

While Shiv Sena supermo Bal Thackeray sent his emissary, former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi, to felicitate BJP's top leaders at the party's public rally on Thursday evening, rebel Sena leader Raj Thackeray came calling upon former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and outgoing BJP President L K Advani at the hotel where these leaders were camping on Friday morning.

Raj's meeting with the BJP's top two leaders lasted for about 15 minutes. While coming out of hotel Raj told media persons, "it was a curtsey call and I meet them whenever they are in town and seek their blessings. You shouldn't try to read too much in the visit".

BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan also tried to downplay the visit, saying that BJP's alliance with Thackeray senior's Sena continues and fortunately Maharasthra's political culture had not gone down to the extent that one dosen't interact with a person socially just because he is a rival.

Though Raj downplayed his visit, it is an open secret that many BJP leaders in Maharashtra don't see eye to eye with Sena's working president Uddhav Thackeray and being a part of Thackeray senior's Sena is a compulsion for them and not a choice. BJP leaders also indicated that the party's relationship with the Sena was under review.