Thackeray will meet Vajpayee soon: BJP

Denying any differences of opinion between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra BJP chief and former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde on Wednesday said Sena chief Bal Thackeray will soon meet former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

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Asking reporters not to read too much into Thackeray's absence at last night's Sena-BJP dinner meeting, Munde said: "Thackeray not coming to dinner is not going to affect the Sena's relation with the BJP."

Asked whether Sena chief's absence at the dinner could be dubbed as pressure tactics, Munde asked: "Pressure tactics for what? There is no NDA government at the Centre and the seat adjustment for Maharashtra assembly elections has been finalised."

To a question, whether the Sena's 'Mee Mumbaikar' campaign, an attempt to prevent non-Maharashtrians from seeking employment in Mumbai, had cost the alliance dear in the Lok Sabha elections, Munde said: "The Sena has started this agitation against 'parprantiya' (non-Maharashtrians), but their priority remains Hindutva. They [the Sena] are not, however, opposed to people who have settled down in Maharashtra, and in Mumbai in particular."

Asked about his party's prospects in the assembly elections scheduled for September-October, Munde said the Sena-BJP alliance will return to power.