Mumbai, Jan 9: Neither the high profile former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan nor the controversial former Commissioner of Police Ram Deo Tyagi figure in the first list of Shiv Sena candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.Putting paid to reports that Sena may field both Seshan and Tyagi from Mumbai, Bal Thackeray today renominated all the three sitting MPs - Narayan Athavale from North-Central, Mohan Rawale from South-Central and Madhukar Sarpotdar from North-West Parliamentary constituencies in the metropolis.
The Shiv Sena has also renominated Suresh Prabhu from Rajapur, Anant Gite from Ratnagiri, Anant Tare from Colaba, Prakash Paranjape from Thane, Anand Adsul from Buldhana, Shivaji Mane from Hingoli, Pradeep Jaiswal from Aurangabad, Shivaji Kamble from Osmanabad, Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar from Satara and Vikram Ghatge from Kolhapur. Barring Tare and Ghatge, who joined the party last week, all were members of the dissolved Lok Sabha. Prabhu had defeated veteran Janata Dal leader
Madhu Dandavate by a huge margin, while Tare had lost to former Chief Minister A R Antulay by a slim margin of 4000 votes.
Talking about party's plans for Tyagi and Seshan, Thackeray told media persons at Sena Bhavan: ``There is no proposal to nominate Tyagi who is not keen to contest. However, I am still in touch with Seshan who has given his consent to contest on Shiv Sena ticket. The Sena chief went on to add that if Seshan sought nomination from any other party, Sena will not support him.
While the Shiv Sena will not impose Seshan on the metropolis, at the same time, it was the responsibility of the party to offer him a safe seat so that he will get elected without any hitch. ``If we had nominated him from the metropolis, it would have been improper as the people here may not have accepted his candidature,'' he added.
Replying to a question, Thackeray said he had proposed to nominate former Congress leader Nivedita Mane from Ichalkaranji , however the proposal has now been dropped as she has sought
nomination from the Congress party.``Now I and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan will decide the alliance's candidate for the Ichalkaranji seat,'' he said. Thackeray said there is no proposal to nominate any of the Cabinet members or Legislators for the mid-term polls. ``If we nominate them, we will have to face fresh byelections, which we do not want,'' Thackeray clarified.
Manifestoes are a political bluff: Thackeray
Thackeray today made it clear that there will be no Vachan Nama (manifesto) for the Parliamentary elections this time as he was of the view that it was a political bluff. ``Hardly anyone reads it (manifesto) and ever anyone implements it,''
Thackeray remarked.However, when he was reminded that Sena-BJP had issued what it called a Vachan Nama for last Assembly elections, Thackeray said indeed such a document was released but he saw to it that things promised in it were delivered.
Thackeray's press meet had it usual frank and blunt statements when the Sena chief, commenting
on his party's relationship with the BJP, remarked candidly: ``Every one knows my views about BJP. All is not well, but at this juncture, when we are facing Parliamentary elections, I do not want to spell it out.'
Cops have a harrowing time
At the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar this morning, it was not just the Sena leaders who were anxiously waiting for the party's first list . Police officers from the Special Branch 1 of Mumbai police and the Intelligence unit of the State Police Force were just as apprehensive, and for once seemed more concerned about the list thanl Thackeray's security.
Policemen in uniform and plain clothes had already taken their place at the Sena Bhavan, hours before Thackeray arrived at 11.30 am. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Uddhav Thackeray where conspicuous by their absence.And as cameras flashed and the hall echoed with clicking sounds, it was enough to annoy Thackeray. ``The flashlights are hitting my eyes directly. Please stop it,'' he demanded.Finally, when
copies of the list were being distributed, the police came forward again to control the mob. It was a tough time for mediapersons, as all the copies distributed just disappeared into the crowd, making it quite obvious that not many present cared for the power of the pen.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
