Mumbai, May 29: Dismissing reports about his quitting Shiv Sena after being dropped from the Vajpayee ministry, senior leader Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil today said he has accepted the party's decision asking him to quit the Cabinet in a "sportsman-like manner".
"I am not at all unhappy. I abided by the Sena chief Bal Thackeray's decision", Vikhe-Patil, who was asked to resign as Union heavy industries minister recently, told a 'Meet-the-Press' programme here. Every party functions in a similar manner and the party did what it deemed fit, he said when asked why he was asked to put in his papers. To a query about giving his ministerial berth to first time MP Subodh Mohite, Vikhe-Patil said "There is nothing wrong in making a new person a minister". Vikhe-Patil said he had a talk with Thackeray four-five days prior to quitting the Cabinet. "I am yet to meet him after resigning. Soon I will talk to the Sena chief", he said. Stating that he was fully satisfied with his work as the Union minister, the senior Sena leader said: "I did what the party asked me". His reply assumes significance in the wake of reports that the Sena leadership was unhappy with him over the issue of the party's growth in his hometown of Ahmednagar. Vikhe-Patil, who has greatly contributed to Mahrashtra's co-operative movement, said he has written to Chief Minister Sushil kumar Shinde to convene an all-party meeting to deliberate over ills plaguing the movement. "Due to some people's decisions, the entire movement should not get a bad name", he added. Bureau Report