BJP, Sena bury hatchet to target Prithviraj Chavan

Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray, senior BJP leaders Gopinath Munde and Venkaiah Naidu, other top Sena and BJP leader met here in the late evening to iron out differences between the two parties, which were tearing apart the three-decade old alliance.

Notwithstanding Munde’s desire to induce the MNS into the Sena-BJP fold, Uddhav Thackeray’s firm opposition to his estranged cousin prevailed and it was decided to keep the MNS away in the foreseeable future, sources from both the parties said. The two parties decided to target Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is bracing for his toughtest challenge during the six-week long budget session of the legislature beginning Monday.

The combined opposition boycotted the customary tea party hosted by the chief minister on the eve of the budget session, signalling a belligerent stand vis-a-vis the government on issues ranging from Adarsh scam and other issues of corruption, shocking daylight murder of Nasik additional collector Yashwant Sonawane by oil mafia, Jaitapur nuclear plant and so on.There has been growing resentment against Chavan within the ruling alliance itself, and in a recent cabinet meet the ministers from both the Congress and NCP had complained that all administrative decisions have virtually come to a standstill.