Monday, January 24 2005 12:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: After offering an olive branch to the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray last night (Jan 23, 2005) accused Pawar of shifting his sides regularly.

"What is the political religion of Pawar who is often shifting his stance," Thackeray questioned at a function organised to mark his 78th birthday and the 16th anniversary of party mouthpiece 'Saamna' in Mumbai.

Revealing that Pawar had approached Sena after the elections, Thackeray said that he (Pawar) had told some Sena leaders that he is going with Congress to ruin that party and after that will be back with Sena.

"How to keep faith in him (Pawar)?" Thackeray asked.

In an interview to the party mouthpiece recently, Thackeray had said that he still considers Pawar as his "friend" and if both were together in Maharashtra then no one would have dared to go against them and they would have had an upper hand in national politics.

The Sena supremo also repeated his statement given in the party mouthpiece that "If I and Pawar come together then the Marathas would have an upperhand in the national politics." Some are taking it as a political move while some call it a 'googly', Thackeray said adding, "I never withdraw my words. I speak what I want to and stand by it. Let the people interpret it in the manner they want." Pawar left Congress on Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin issue and contested 1999 elections independently but later came with Congress only for power, Thackeray alleged.

"The Congress and NCP had come together for power while the Sena and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) are together on the Hindutva issue," the Sena chief said.

Stating that the saffron alliance was defeated in Maharashtra due to voting by Bangladeshis, Thackeray said, "I was the first person to raise the issue and has asked my party men to demolish their (Bangladeshis) hutments wherever they are."

"I will not tolerate Bangladeshi Muslims in the city as well as in the country," Thackeray added.