MUMBAI: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Sunday expelled Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Narayan Rane from the party. He said he would have "no gangsterism in my Sena" and asked Mr. Rane to resign his membership of the Assembly "if you have any self-respect, for you got it because of the Shiv Sena."

No enmity

Mr. Thackeray announced his decision at a meeting of the Sena legislators and functionaries here. He, according to a Sena source, told them that he was expelling Mr. Rane from the party and now the latter was free "to indulge in whatever conspiracy-hatching that he would like." But in the same breath, the Shiv Sena chief said that though he had expelled Mr. Rane he had no enmity with him.

Mr. Rane, who had announced on Saturday his intention to quit the `Shiv Sena leadership,' did not attend the meeting unlike other legislators but scores of his supporters gathered outside the venue, Rang Sharda Auditorium in suburban Bandra, and raised slogans against the Sena's executive president and Mr. Bal Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray. They allegedly manhandled the chief of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (labour wing of the party), Suryakant Mahadik, who is against Mr. Rane. Soon the party loyalists countered them with pro-Uddhav slogans.

Mr. Thackeray made a similar announcement at a press conference that followed. "I got annoyed when Rane started intimidating the party workers at their homes to get their support — no gangsterism in the Shiv Sena," he said. "He has betrayed me though I discounted talks of his likelihood of leaving the Shiv Sena by stating that he was a loyal and staunch Shiv Sainik."

He said: "If I am his idol as he says, what were the slogans at the airport that denounced and insulted all other legislators and leaders of the Shiv Sena — how can I tolerate this, being the party president." He said he would think later about who would succeed Mr. Rane as the Leader of the Opposition. He said he had the list of the MLAs who had attended the meeting but did not give their numbers. The Shiv Sena has 63 members in the House of 288. A party source said that about a dozen legislators might have kept away from the meeting.

Mr. Thackeray said that Mr. Rane had `gone wayward' and rejected the latter's allegation that he was not being respected and consulted by Mr. Uddhav Thackeray. He said that his son and the Leader of the Opposition were on very friendly terms and they had even had a discussion in London when both were there.

"I do not know what happened suddenly."

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