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Sena announces first list of nominees

Madhukar Sarpotdar, North-west Bombay MP and Shiv Sena leader in the 11th Lok Sabha, south-central Bombay MP Mohan Rawle and former Union industry minister Suresh Prabhu are among the 13 Sena candidates who will contest the general election.

The Sena's first list was announced today by its chief Bal Thackeray at at the Shiv Sena Bhavan at Dadar, central Bombay.

All the Maharashtra nominees, except Vikramsinh Ghatge who will contest from Kolhapur, are sitting MPs.

The Sena will contest 21 seats out of the 48 seats from Maharashtra.

Two seats outside Maharashtra, namely, Sonepat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli will be contested by Arvind Sharma and Uttam Patel respectively, Thackeray said.

The other candidates are Anant Gite (Ratnagiri), Anant Tare (Kulaba), Narayan Athavale (north-central Bombay), Prakash Paranjape (Thane), Anand Adsul (Buldhana), Shivaji Mane (Hingoli), Pradeep Jaiswal (Sambhajinagar), Shivaji Kamble (Dharashiv) and Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar (Satara).

Thackeray said he will launch his election campaign from Kolhapur after invoking the blessings of goddess Ambabai on January 18.

As for former chief election commissioner T N Seshan, Thackeray said he is willing to contest the election on a Sena ticket provided he is assured of a victory.

About the Bharatiya Janata Party, Thackeray said, ''We have differences with the BJP, but I do not want to elaborate on it. However, we will take care to see that the BJP does not lose at the national level.''

Asked about the BJP's ties with other regional parties in the country, he said the Sena will have an alliance with the party only in Maharashtra. Outside the state, the Sena will test its strength, he said, adding that he was ''helpless if the votes are split'' because of the Sena and the BJP contesting the same seats.

As for Hindutva, Thackeray said it has to be seen how far the issue can be stretched. ''There is always the fear of disqualification.''

Asked why the Sena was changing its policy, the Sena chief said, ''No policy is permanent.''

Asked why no women candidate was fielded in the first list of nominees, he said people do not vote for women constituency-wise. ''There are no good women candidates in the party.''

As for the party's poll plank in Bombay, Sarpotdar told Rediff On The NeT, ''In the last 18 months, I have realised that Bombay is not getting its due. The money which the city generates is distributed for the country's welfare and only a minuscule of it comes back for its development.''

Apart from the Sena poll manifesto, Sarpotdar plans to highlight the issue.

Asked whether the Sena would be affected if the Congress and other secular parties joined hands, he said, "National politics have changed in the last 18 months. And the Congress will do worse than in the last election." The Congress, the Republican Party of India, the Samajwadi Party, the Janata Dal and the Left parties fought independently in the last election, resulting in easy victory for the Sena-BJP candidates.

Echoing similar views, Athawale said the Sonia factor would not affect his chances. "Sonia is not an issue in Maharashtra politics. People of Mahrashtra will listen to her speeches but no one will vote for her party."

Both MPs felt the BJP-Sena alliance has made deep inroads in the state. ''And no party will be able to defeat us.''

"We have registered significant victories in all the corporation and district-level elections in the last 18 months. I feel that we will improve our tally," added Sarpotdar.

UNI and Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Bombay

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