n Aurangabad on February 6, Munde had said that internally the workers of the parties were in favour of such an alliance.
He had stated that the alliance of the three parties — BJP, Shiv Sena and MNS —would mean an addition to the vote strength and hence power in the state.
A strongly-worded editorial in Saamna, considered as the views of its editor and Sena chief Bal Thackeray, stated that there was no space for a third party in an alliance that was built on the common feelings of ‘Hindutva’.
Ridiculing MNS as ‘Zandu balm’ (in reference to the use of the word in a Bollywood song), the mouthpiece said that the third partner was not needed in the saffron alliance. ‘Keep that zandu balm for yourself. We don’t need it in the alliance’, the Saamna editorial read.
It went on to appreciate the alliance saying: “The alliance is going very well. Even if we are not living in a joint family set-up, our alliance is a matter of envy. For 22 years, we have been together and it is not an easy feat to achieve. It is for this reason that people try to disturb the peace between us.”