Shiv Sena divided over favourite for panel head

Aurangabad: Ahead of the June 2 election for the post of the chairman of the standing committee, the Shiv Sena has been showing an internal divide on the basis of three favoured candidates.
While the group led by MP Chandrakant Khaire is in favour of Mohan Meghawale, guardian minister Ramdas Kadam appears to be backing two Sena candidates, namely Makrand Kulkarni and Gajanan Mangate . The party has six members in the fray for the standing committee, and a pre-poll alliance between the two right-wing allies has reserved the post for the Sena in its second term. In the same agreement, a BJP candidate was to be head of the committee in its first term.
The first term was headed by BJP member Dilip Thorat which ended recently with the retirement of eight members, out of 16. The election to the chairman's post is scheduled on June 2. Out 16 members the Shiv Sena has 6, the BJP 3, independents group supporting the BJP- 2, MIM -4 and Congress -1.
The group headed by district Sena unit chief Ambadas Danve are taking no sides and are open to either candidate getting the top post.
The party sources also said that if the party factions in Aurangabad mainly led by MP, Khaire and guardian minister Kadam do not reach at a consensus, the Mumbai top brass would intervene and communicate their choice to the local leadership. tnn