NCP on Wednesday said the decision of MNS to support the candidature of BJP leader Gopinath Munde in Beed Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra has exposed the secret pact between the two parties.
NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said when former BJP President Nitin Gadkari took the initiative to include MNS in the "Mahayuti", Munde had opposed the move. "Now in a desperate move to save his seat, he has bowed before Raj Thackeray," he said.
Malik said the "hidden understanding" between MNS and BJP was known for a long time but the pact was never revealed officially because Shiv Sena would not like it. "But now the pact is out in the open," he said.
On Tuesday, in an unexpected development MNS chief Raj Thackeray announced his party's public support to Munde asking his party workers and voters to ensure his victory from Beed.
Beed, Munde's stronghold in the Marathwada region, under renewed assault by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leadership, which is making all efforts to defeat the BJP's biggest mass leader in the state, on his home turf is going to polls on Thursday.
MNS backing to Munde assumes significance in the backdrop of the reported tussle between him and Nitin Gadkari in the Maharashtra unit of BJP and also the latter's much talked about meeting with Raj Thackeray, reportedly to persuade MNS against contesting Lok Sabha polls, in order to avoid a division of opposition votes.
However, Raj Thackeray went ahead and announced his party would contest 10 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.
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