Rift appears in Shiv Sena-BJP ties

BJP accuses Shiv Sena of entering into a deal with the Cong by supporting UPA-Left candidate Prathibha Patil.

Rift appeared on Tuesday between the BJP and the Shiv Sena as the saffron party accused its oldest ideological ally from Maharasthra of entering into a deal with the Congress by supporting UPA-Left Presidential candidate Prathibha Patil.

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BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde alleged that the Shiv Sena has betrayed his party by not backing NDA-supported candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

"This is a betrayal. The Shiv Sena is into a deal with the Congress," Munde remarked, alleging the alliance partner had agreed to throw its weight behind Patil in exchange for a promise that its former Sena leader Narayan Rane would not be appointed chief minister of Maharasthra ever.

He dismissed as fake the Shiv Sena's Maratha-pride argument, recalling that the party had not supported Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde, a Maharashtrian, in the last election for the Vice-President.

"At that point of time it only supported Shekhawat. Where was their Maratha-pride then?" he asked.
Munde also named a number of Shiv Sena members from the Rajya Sabha, who he said were all non-Maharashtrians.