Mumbai : Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Saturday appealed to the leaders and office bearers of his party to ensure the victory of BJP-Sena alliance in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Thackeray held a meeting of party MPs, district and taluka chiefs at the party headquarters to devise a strategy for the polls. It was the first meeting after a decision was taken to join hands with the BJP for the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.

The directives assume significance as a section of grassroots party workers are not happy with his decision to ally with the BJP.

Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said, "Uddhav ji believes in a two-way approach towards party workers. He gives them guidance and takes their advice." He said Thackeray was conducting meetings at various levels, to clear doubts and answer queries of grassroot workers regarding the alliance.

Meanwhile, another Sena leader quoted Thackeray as saying tthe Sena-BJP alliance's victory was very important for the country and all party workers should strive hard for it.

He also said efforts should be made at the local level to pave the way for the alliance's victory.

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Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.

Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.

The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.

According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.

Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.

Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.

The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.

There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.

The rescue operations are ongoing.