Always consult Uddhav and me, Bal Thackeray tells party

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has expressed strong displeasure over the recent actions of some of his party men in the state. Speaking to newly elected Sena corporators and office bearers at his Matoshree residence on Wednesday, the party patriarch warned members against taking any decisions without keeping him and Executive Chief Uddhav Thackeray in the loop.

Absolute power
"No one except me and Uddhav can take any policy decisions," said Bal Thackeray who is upset after the decision of some Sena MLAs to perform aarti in the State Assembly, and some developments related with the Thane Municipal Corporation. "Don't indulge in any acts, such as displaying Ganesh idol or pictures, or perform aarti," he said.

Meanwhile, the 86-year-old Thackeray chose to keep mum over the suspension of the 13 party MLAs who were protesting in the Assembly over the theft of an idol from a temple in Diveagar, Raigad district. The party has refrained from making any request of revocation of the suspended legislators.

The Opposition MLAs who were suspended on March 30 for disrespecting the house had protested in an unusual manner during zero hour by singing hymns and shouting anti-government slogans. Thackeray also warned his party men and newly elected corporators from five corporations - Bhivandi, Malegaon, Latur, Parbhani and Chandrapur - not to indulge in any act for the sake for publicity.

He also told them that the MNS should be kept at bay. "We decided to back the Congress in Nashik only to keep away an MNS man from the post of chairman of the standing committee," said Thackeray. Now, to keep MNS away from the post of the standing committee in Thane, Sena is wooing both NCP and the Congress.

Suspended legislators
Pratap Sarnaik, Mahadev Babar, Vijay Shivtare, Eknath Shinde, Vinod Ghosalkar, Rajan Vichare, Dnyanraj Chougule, Sanjay Gavande, Sujit Minchekar, Abhijit Adsul, Balaji Kinikar, Chandrakant Mokate and Daulat Daroda (all Shiv Sena) and BJP MLA Ram Shinde were suspended after parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil tabled a resolution that the 14 MLAs be suspended.