State BJP, Sena leaders keep off Modi's Shivneri rally

JUNNAR: Differences within the Hindutva forces, particularly between the BJP and the RSS, came to the fore on Thursday as senior BJP and Shiv Sena leaders and party cadres stayed away from Shiv Jayanti celebrations at the Shivneri fort in Junnar taluka, where Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest.
The function was organised by the Shivneri Smarak Samiti (SSS), a Sangh Parivar organisation. While Modi was present for the function, the Thackeray cousins — Uddhav and Raj — were conspicuous by their absence, along with senior state-level BJP leaders such as national vice-president Gopinath Munde, state president Pandurang Phundkar, state general-secretary Sharad Kulkarni and party spokesperson Prakash Jawadekar among others.
Those who attended the function were MP Pradeep Rawat, city BJP president and corporator Anil Shirole and four other corporators. The function had already generated heat within the BJP, which had expressed its displeasure with the Shivneri Smarak Samiti for inviting Modi as the chief guest. Modi was also scheduled to address public meetings in Pune and Aurangabad.
However, these were cancelled by the state BJP, apparently at the instance of the party’s national general-secretary, Pramod Mahajan. The party functionaries attributed Munde’s absence to the state assembly being in session and the presentation of the state budget.
Party sources said even the Rawat and Shirole would have avoided the function, but for appeals by a state unit general-secretary to ensure a face-saving presence of the party at the Gujarat chief minister’s function. The Sena on its part was upset with the samiti as it had turned down local Sena MLA Balasaheb Dangat’s request to perform a pooja of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue at the fort and a public rally of Modi and Sena leaders in Junnar town.
Hurt at being sidelined in the event, local Sena leaders requested senior leaders to stay away from the function. Consequently, party cadres also stayed away, resulting in poor attendance at Modi’s rally at the fort. Speaking at a public rally on the occasion, Modi praised Shivaji’s foresight in establishing a navy despite waging a majority of his battles on land. “Shivaji was among the first to recognise the threat from the British and French,� he said.