Thackeray leads with both fists swinging, asks Sainiks to court arrest

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has asked the Sainiks who attacked Opposition leader Chhagan Bhujbal's house on July 13 to court arrest under section 307 at the Cuffe Parade police station.

Supporting the Sena cadres staunchly, Thackeray lambasted the ruling Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance for acting under 'central government pressure'. This show of aggression, political observers say, is apparently to please Sena cadres who are unhappy over their chief's lack of aggressive militancy in recent days.

Thackeray's statement was released by the Sena daily Saamna.

''For the past couple of days, the state government, under pressure from the Opposition, is planning to arrest my Shiv Sainiks under section 307 dealing with attempt to murder. This is a case of getting punished twice for the same offence. Even after releasing the Shiv Sainiks on bail there is a demand from Delhi to arrest them under section 307,'' the statement said.

At his sarcastic best, Thackeray said, "Now the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra legislative assembly are in session. Opposition leaders will show their aggression in the legislature. So arrest Shiv Sainiks and punish them before the completion of an inquiry. Let their (Opposition members) souls rest in peace."

On Saturday night, Thackeray conveyed his strong displeasure about the Sainiks's arrest to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. The Sena chief, it is reported, left the venue in a huff.

His tirade against his own government is seen in many quarters as a bid to prevent the poaching of his cadres by Arun Gawli's Akhil Bharatiya Sena. Gawli's ABS draws its masses from the same Bombay areas as the Shiv Sena. To counter Gawli's threat, the Sena may revert to its aggressive militant stand which once was Thackeray's hallmark, observers feel.

Thackeray's call will serve as a barometer of saffron politics: if the Sainiks heed it, as it seem they will, Thackeray's supremacy over the Sena will be established irrefutably; it may even end up costing Manohar Joshi his precious seat (considering their Saturday meeting was anything but cordial).

If they don't, this will be a turning point in Shiv Sena's history.

Compiled by Prasanna D Zorey from the Marathi press