Vajpayee urged Bal Thackeray not to expand Shiv Sena nationally: Raut

Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackery wanted to expand the party nationally but decided against it after an appeal from then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has said.

Vajpayee reportedly told Thackeray that if the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested nationally separately, their votes will get divided.

Raut explains what happened

"We had an alliance with the BJP. Especially after the Ayodhya movement, there was a wave for Balasaheb in Hindi-speaking states,” Raut told NDTV.

“We were also going to contest the elections in 1992. We were getting good support," he said.

"Balasaheb Thackeray was the leader of Hindus. He had become a superstar, but when he announced that he wished to contest elections, he got a call from Atalji.

Vajpayee’s plea to Thackeray

“He was told that 'Balasaheb, if you contest the elections, our votes will get divided. Once again, we will suffer a loss'," Raut quoted the BJP veteran as saying. This prompted Balasaheb to decide that the Shiv Sena would not fight elections in any state except Maharashtra.

"Balasaheb told us that Atalji had called us, we should respect him, so we will not contest the elections. Had we had contested elections, 10-15 of our leaders would have got elected from outside Maharashtra," said Raut, a confidant of present party chief, Uddhav Thackeray.

At the same, Uddhav Thackeray wants the Sena to expand, Raut added, without revealing details.