By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday kept up the suspense over its ties with the Shiv Sena a day after the latter made peace with it.
“Wait for a while, you will see when we decide whether we (BJP and Shiv Sena) will contest (next elections) together,” BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde told reporters.
Munde welcomed and appreciated Sena’s gesture to vote for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) vice presidential candidate Najma Heptulla Friday but added: “The Maharashtra unit (of the BJP) will meet towards the end of this month and review the relationship.”
The BJP-Sena alliance goes back to 1984, predating the formation of NDA. Its future, however, is uncertain after the Sena broke ranks and voted for United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Pratibha Patil in last month’s presidential election.
When reminded of Sena leader Manohar Joshi’s statement that his party had only acceded to a desperate appeal by BJP president Rajnath Singh, Munde said, “Joshi is right. There is nothing wrong in seeking their vote. In elections we all go to everybody and humbly seek their vote.”
But in the same breath, Munde – related by marriage to late Pramod Mahajan, the architect of the BJP-Sena alliance – added: “We were unhappy with the way they had criticised us during the presidential election, that is what hurt us”.
The date of the proposed meeting of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP has not yet been finalised, but Munde said it would be any day between Aug 15 and 30. He would attend this meeting in Mumbai as central observer, he added.