Shiv Sena silent on Smita's intention to join Congress

Mumbai : The Shiv Sena yesterday literally switched to silent mode as party chief Bal Thackeray's daughter-in-law Smita Jaidev Thackeray said she planned to join the Congress. Her son Rahul, meanwhile, said he had not been informed of her plans.

The phones of top Sena leaders remained "unavailable", "switched off" or "not reachable" since a prominent national daily broke the news, suddenly diverting the party's attention from the election for a new Mumbai mayor to replace incumbent Shubha Raul.

According to an interview with the English daily, Smita has claimed that she is being sidelined by a coterie in Matoshree, the Sena chief's residence in Bandra East, and was being denied her due in the party.

She has also alleged that she was promised a berth in Rajya Sabha last year, but at the last minute it was given to senior journalist Bharat Kumar Raut.

Praise for Sonia

Expressing her frustration, Smita — the estranged wife of Thackeray's son Jaidev — has also said that she is feeling stifled and "suffocated" in Matoshree.

The 48-year-old Thackeray daughter-in-law is enamoured by the leadership qualities of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, and says both of them are doing a great job of leading the country.

Expressing her admiration for both Sonia and Rahul as well as the Congress ideology, Smita said she plans to call on them and join the national ruling party soon.

Bal Thackeray's grandson Rahul however said his mother had not informed him of her plans to join the Congress.

Interacting with mediapersons here on behalf of his mother Smita, Rahul endorsed her view that "she is not getting any support from the Shiv Sena".

The Congress yesterday reacted positively to reports of Smita planning to join the party, but said she would be admitted only after the Maharashtra unit's nod.

"I am happy to learn that like the common people of the country, members of the Thackeray family are also expressing faith in the party's policies and in its leaders," Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmad said.

He said Congress policies were inclusive and the party wanted to carry everyone along.

Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Kripa Shankar Singh also said there has been no formal indication from Smita to join the Congress.

Besides being deprived of any personal progress and getting marginalised in the party, Smita also said that the party is being "unfair to Maharashtrians" with its divisive and parochial politics. She also frowned upon attacks on fellow Indians in the name of language and regionalism.

Smita, who loves to dabble with Bollywood and has produced a couple of Hindi films like Haseena Maan Jayegi, had grown into a power centre during the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party rule in 1995-99.