Communication with BJP leadership broken: Uddhav

Mumbai, July 25:  Shiv Se President Uddhav Thackeray on Monday admitted to a virtual breakdown in communication with the Bharatiya Jata Party’s (BJP) tiol leadership. He attributed this mainly to a “generatiol shift” in the BJP — with which the Se is allied both in the central and Maharashtra governments. Seasoned BJP leaders have been replaced by a younger lot, he said. “The generation changed and the new dispensation got power very quickly. But after stabilizing in office, they should look for open dialogue,” Thackeray said. In the second of a three-part interview published on Monday in the party mouthpieces Saama (Marathi) and Dopahar ka Saama (Hindi) ahead of his 56th birthday on July 27, Thackeray spoke at length with Executive Editor and MP Sanjay Raut. There was a time when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to regularly call up and discuss issues with the late Shiv Se President Bal Thackeray, he said.

“Then, there were Pramod Mahajan and Gopith Munde who continued to connect with the Se and BJP at the centre. Such great individuals are no more,” Thackeray rued. He pointed out that the elder generation in the BJP - comprising people like Vajpayee, Advani and others - was out of politics. The Se chief, however, added that he enjoyed a rapport with Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadvis.

The almost three decades long ties between the BJP and Se broke down on the eve of the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections.

The Se sat in the opposition benches briefly before joining the ruling BJP - with the avowed claims of keeping the Congress-tiolist Congress Party out of power. Elaborating, Thackeray said instead of concentrating on a “Congress-free” India vide political misadventures like in Uttarakhand and Aruchal Pradesh, the BJP would do better to “free and get back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or Chinese-occupied Aruchal Pradesh - the tion will be forever indebted to BJP”.

Warning the BJP not to take the people for granted, he referred to 1980 when the voters threw out the Jata Party government and brought back Indira Gandhi to power. “Don’t make the mistake of writing off the Congress so soon. That party is well-entrenched in India since before independence. See the recent outcome of local body elections in Gujarat where it came up trumps. So, avoid taking the Congress so lightly,” Thackeray said. (ians)