MUMBAI (TIP): The Shiv Sena may give up its recalcitrant stance vis-a-vis the state BJP, and work in cooperation with its poll ally to build a broad consensus within the six-party mahayuti, observers said on June 5 . Saamna, the Sena morninger, paid tributes to BJP leader Gopinath Munde, but said the party’s state unit will have to finalize his successor. “You can’t go looking for an heir. He has to emerge from the people.

Munde’s heir too will come from a public crusade,” it said. A fresh round of popular struggle against the ruling Congress-NCP combine, it said, would help rejuvenate the mahayuti (saffron alliance) following Munde’s death. In an editorial, it described him as the state’s tallest leader and the Maharashtra BJP’s rallying point. Recalling Munde’s social engineering experiment, the newspaper pointed out that he guaranteed a splendid Lok Sabha tally for the mahayuti by sewing up a rainbow combination of castes and communities, including the Marathas, dhangars and other backward classes.

“Maharashtra and the state BJP are in a state of shock because of Munde’s untimely and tragic death. A strong force which took on the ruling Congress-NCP combine has fallen. The combine could not topple him. Time pulled down the strong pillar. But, even those from the combine are mourning Munde’s death,” the Sena daily said.