PM Modi had made a surprise stopover at Lahore on his way back from Kabul to wish his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday on December 25.
Citing examples of BJP stalwarts Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, ally Shiv Sena today said that political careers of leaders who got too close to Pakistan have been on the wane as it criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore.
"What needs to be remembered is that there is an orthodox belief that in the past, no politician who has tried to get too close to Pakistan has been able to remain in politics for long. LK Advani has once been on the tomb of (Mohammed Ali) Jinnah and had praised him. After that, his political graph started declining and today he has been sidelined," the Sena said in an edit in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"(AB) Vajpayee, in a bid to mend the strained relations between both countries started the 'Lahore bus' service and also went out of his way to meet General (Pervez) Musharraf in Agra. After that, never did a BJP government come to power under the leadership of Vajpayee," it said.
It further questioned BJP's response, had a Congress Prime Minister made an
unannounced stopover in Pakistan."The whole country is asking if BJP would have similarly welcomed a Congress PM's unannounced stopover in Lahore like they did for Modi...," the edit said.
Earlier this month, in a sarcastic take on Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif's hand shake on sidelines of the climate summit in Paris, the Shiv Sena had said the Prime Minister has displayed
"huge tolerance" by shaking hands with his Pakistani counterpart.
The Shiv Sena has been opposed to resuming cultural and sports ties with the neighbouring country.
Protests by Sena led to Pakistani ghazal singer
Ghulam Ali's concert scheduled in Mumbai being cancelled in October.
The party had also opposed the launch in Mumbai of a book written by former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and Sena activists had later
blackened the face of the event organiser Sudheendra Kulkarni.The Shiv Sena is an alliance partner of the BJP in Maharashtra and a part of the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.