Shiv Sena boycotts PM's events in Maha

The BJP's warring ally Shiv Sena Tuesday chose to stay away from the inauguration of various projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune.

The prime minister Tuesday laid foundation stones for two metro lines- Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan (Metro 5) and the Dahisar-Mira Bhayander (Metro 9) at Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district. He also launched the Navi Mumbai town planning authority Cidco's (City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) mass-housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore.

Later, the PM also laid the foundation stone of the phase three of Pune Metro.

A senior Shiv Sena leader said since the party chief Uddhav Thackeray was not invited to the PM's events, Sena leaders and ministers decided to boycott his functions.

"After we learnt that Uddhav Thackeray has not been invited, the party leaders decided to boycott all the functions of PM Modi in Maharashtra on Tuesday," he said.

According to a BJP leader, an editorial in Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana' had not gone down well with his party's leadership.

"There was a direct attack on Narendra Modi in an editorial in 'Saamana'. Holding Modi responsible for the BJP's loss of power in three states has not gone down well with our leadership in the state as well as at the Centre," he said.

Senior BJP leader and state Education Minister Vinod Tawde said, "We had invited everyone to the PM's functions as per the protocol. The ministers from Thane district and even members of Parliament (MPs) were invited."