Maharashtra BJP wants Sena to restrain member

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, JULY 31. Senior BJP leaders of Maharashtra want the Shiv Sena to rein in Mr. Sanjay Nirupam, Sena's member in the Rajya Sabha, who had alleged that the PMO figured in the telephonic calls made by the former UTI chief, Mr. Subrahmanyam.

The BJP leaders intent to call on the Sena chief, Mr. Bal Thackeray, and tell him that they perceive Mr. Nirupam's views as not being the Sena's views and such ``irresponsible charges'' ought not to be aired in this manner, according to Mr. Nitin Gadkari, BJP's Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council.

``We want to tell Mr. Thackeray that we disagree with Mr. Nirupam and that we want the alliance between the two parties to continue,'' Mr. Gadkari said. ``Just as we respect Mr. Thackeray, we also have immense affection and respect'' for the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee. He claimed that he and his colleagues spoke to Sena MPs and Ministers and ``they are unhappy with Mr. Nirupam.''

Interestingly enough, the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece, Saamna, and its afternoon tabloid, Doopahar Ka Saamna, of which Mr. Nirupam is the executive editor, did not carry Mr. Nirupam's views in their editions today.

Bid to dislodge State Govt.

Meanwhile, the Sena, under the leadership of Mr. Narayan Rane, former Chief Minister, is stepping up its efforts to dislodge the Congress(I)-NCP-led coalition dispensation by ``attempting'' to induce as many as eight MLAs from the Congress(I) and the NCP. If that happens, the coalition will become a minority. Also, the Sena needs the BJP's full support. For the record the BJP leaders spoke of ``their full support for this really serious bid'' and they were in and out of Mr. Rane's office. The word this evening was that as many as six MLAs, three each from the Congress(I) and the NCP, have signed their resignations from the Assembly on assurances that they would be sent to the Legislative Council the moment a Sena-led government comes to power and vacancies arise.

`UTI for redemptions'

PTI reports:

The Unit Trust of India has tied up a line of credit with a large number of banks to ensure liquidity for flagship US-64 scheme repurchases, beginning tomorrow.

``We have made arrangements with banks which will extend credit at below prime lending rate to meet any pressure arising for US- 64 scheme redemptions by investors (upto 3,000 units each),'' the UTI Chairman, Mr. M. Damodaran, told reporters here today.

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