Bonhomie in the air : Vilasrao and Munde took a helicopter ride together

Despite political differences, bonhomie seems to be in the air, with Union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress and BJP general secretary and MP Gopinath Munde taking a copter ride together to temple town of Shirdi last week.

Through exchange of pleasantries they gave out the message of ' ye dosti hum nahin todenge' (we will not break friendship, come what may). However on the issue of Anna Hazare, the duo struck a divergent note at a joint press conference addressed by them. While Vilasrao Deshmukh objected to news channels harping on the central government bowing down before Anna to rectify Lok Pal bill, Munde saw nothing objectionable in it.

Deshmukh said it was wrong to say that the Centre had bowed before the social activist. He said the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had given her support to Anna Hazare’s campaign and that the UPA was very serious about the issue of corruption and to combat the same, the government was taking every step. He said the UPA was committed to passing the Lok Pal bill and even referred to the then NDA government as having tried its best to get the bill through.

On the other hand, Munde said that the government had to take the cognisance of Anna’s struggle largely owing to the groundswell his campaign against corruption was generating. He said the draft of the Lok Pal Bill had been gathering dust all these years, it was only but after the countrywide agitation on the issue that the government was galvanised into action.

He said it would take two third majority support to pass the bill in the parliament and this is where the role of his party comes in. He also said the BJP would extend its full support to the bill during the voting. Thus he seemed to have rebutted his friends remarks.

Both Vilasrao Deshmukh and Gopinath Munde, attired in spotless white and black jacket, arrived in Shirdi accompanied by revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat. It’s not known if the helicopter they travelled in was hired of if the politicos themselves paid the fare out of their pockets or whether the government funded the fare despite the visit being personal in nature.

Reiterating that they were pucca friends and that they never let their political differences come in the path of their friendship, the duo together visited the temple and had the darshan. They also said that wherever they decide to go, they go together.