Thackeray ready to tutor Advani on elections
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, one of the key components of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), on Tuesday asked BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani to “visit Matoshri (Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai) if doubts and uncertainty are plaguing the mind; I will provide the necessary courage to walk down the path to 2014 elections.”
The Shiv Sena chief who usually issues his views and statements through party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, in an editorial, reacted harshly to Advani’s latest blog hinting that 2014 polls in all likelihood will see a non-Congress and a non-BJP prime minister.
Advani had argued that while the third front will not have much say; even established political parties like the Congress or the BJP will also find themselves perched precariously. Thackeray, however, while refusing to get into Advani's political polemics, wrote that NDA allies should “not lose heart... let us instead prepare for the battle ahead.”
No pessimistic analysis
The Sena chief further asked Advani to refrain from making such pessimistic analysis. “His (Advani) forecast is like saying the war is likely to end in a stalemate with some third party planting a flag in the war-zone even before going into the battlefield.”
Thackeray, however, acknowledged that under the present circumstances, “...everybody in the NDA seems to be a contender for the prime minister’s post. We should not get distracted by such aspirations. We should ensure first that we win the battle and that can be done only if we make ourselves pyschologically strong before entering the battle ground.”
