Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy on Monday met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray here and discussed about the prevailing political situation in the country.
“We had an hour-long meeting where wide ranging issues regarding the current political affairs were discussed. We agreed that the NDA strategy and approach for the next Lok Sabha elections should be fighting corruption, promoting development and adopting Hindutva,” Mr. Swamy told PTI.
The Janata Party leader said he has had a long association with the Thackerays since he was elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai.
“Another topic of our discussion was the issue of NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate. It should be discussed in a meeting with all allies,” he said.
When asked about Shiv Sena’s criticism of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in an editorial which appeared in party mouthpiece Saamana last week, Mr. Swamy said the editorial basically spoke of the need for the PM candidate to be upholding Hindutva also, rather than just development.
On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attacking his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi over the secular principle, Mr. Swamy felt that Nitish could be assured that “a true Hindu will always be a secular person.”
Mr. Kumar had recently opposed Mr. Modi’s name for the top post saying NDA’s PM candidate should have a secular face.
According to him, Hindus are naturally secular people because they believe that all religions lead to God. “Hindus do not need additional qualification,” he said.
The chief of Janata Party, an ally of the BJP-led NDA said he would apprise senior BJP leader L.K. Advani about his meet with Mr. Thackeray.
