Joshi was reacting to a sharp reaction by BJP State president Suryabhan Wahadne at Kolhapur yesterday who condemned the chief minister's reported remarks that the BJP was joining hands with the Congress on the separate Vidarbha issue. Joshi was here to address the concluding function of the platinum jubilee celebration of Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh.

The chief minister clarified that he never meant to generate a controversy on the issue of creation of a separate state of Vidarbha. It was only a piece of advice to the alliance partner that raising disputed issues would only benefit the Congress party.

Joshi said that the experiment of making an alliance on the plank of the Hindutva had succeeded so far and the same should continue in future too. He further said thatdifferences on issues like free power to farmers or hike in cotton procurement rates could be sorted out through discussions and the alliance government had sufficient time at its disposal to do so.

He also said that the news that Sena chief Bal Thackeray was likely to announce the split in the alliance at the programme scheduled in the city in February, was baseless.