Sena breaks ranks with NDA, to back Patil

Playing the Marathi card, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today said the party would back United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left presidential candidate, Pratibha Patil. The decision has put a question mark on the BJP-Sena alliance, which is more than two decades old.

A one-page statement issued by Thackeray said, "In 60 years of independent India, for the first time a Marathi person is getting a chance to hold such a high office."

Thackeray called Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's move to stand as an independent to get votes from other parties as opportunism.

Terming the decision "unfortunate", BJP state President Nitin Gadkari said, "The fact that the Sena is backing a Congress candidate for President and NCP chief Sharad Pawar as prime minister makes us wonder if it is us."