Thackeray airs grievances to PM

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, JULY 9. The Shiv Sena Chief, Mr. Bal Thackeray, today had a one-to-one meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, at the Raj Bhavan here.

Their close aides waited outside, as both the leaders conferred for nearly 45 minutes. But neither side gave any details to the waiting reporters. ``I overheard Balasaheb telling Atalji, `we have Mamata (affection) but no Banerjee,'' joked the Information Technology Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan.

Though the grapevine has it that Mr. Thackeray discussed with Mr. Vajpayee the portfolios of his party Ministers - Mr. Manohar Joshi (Heavy Industry), Mr. Suresh Prabhu (Environment) and Mr. Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil (Minister of State for Finance) -, a key Sena functionary told The Hindu that the meeting had a lot to do with enlisting greater cooperation by the BJP to the Shiv Sena during the monsoon session of the State Legislature beginning here on July 17.

Mr. Thackeray is not happy with the Prime Minister about the allocation of portfolios to the Sena Ministers and, of late, he has publicly aired his displeasure, describing those Ministries as `empty briefcases.'

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