New Delhi: Cracks emerged in the National Democratic Alliance on Friday over ruling alliance announcing to forego their salary for a period of 23 days when Parliament could not function. This was announced by a BJP minister but the Shiv Sena asserted that its MPs would claim their salaries and another ally saying it was unaware of the decision.

Union minister Ananth Kumar had on Thursday said that MPs of the ruling NDA would forego their salary for the 23 days of the ongoing budget session when Parliament did not function because of protests by the Congress and other political parties.

Reacting to the move, the Sena said the BJP did not consult it and alleged the government was responsible for the virtual washout of the second leg of the Budget Session. The party claimed that BJP did not want Parliament to function due to the Karnataka assembly polls next month.

Sena MP ArvindSawant lashed out at the BJP over Kumar’s announcement saying, “They (BJP) did not consult us before taking the decision. They only remember allies when there are presidential and vice-presidential polls.”

Sawant said his party’s MPs had been doing their work. “Even if Parliament was not functioning, we have held meetings with ministries to address problems faced by our people,” he said.

The Shiv Sena is “not on the same page” with the BJP on the issue, he added. With 18 LokSabha MPs, the Sena is the second largest constituent of the NDA after the BJP which has 275 members.

RashtriyaLokSamta Party (RLSP) chief and Union minister UpendraKushwaha told reporters that he was unaware of the decision about NDA MPs not claiming salaries.