OSAKA ¨C Tensions between the Osaka chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party and senior LDP officials are rising after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday met with Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who is running against an LDP candidate in next month¡¯s polls.

The local chapter is concerned over how the meeting will be perceived and how it will affect voters going into the mayoral and gubernatorial elections.

Although the meeting¡¯s official purpose was to discuss central government aid to Osaka in the event of an earthquake and tsunami off the Pacific coast, it took place the same day Matsui¡¯s main opponent in the Nov. 22 poll, Takako Kurihara, announced her policy platform.

Kurihara, a former prefectural assembly member, belongs to the local LDP chapter and has its backing against Matsui, who along with mayor Toru Hashimoto founded local political group Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka).

Matsui and Hashimoto have long battled LDP members in the municipal and prefectural assemblies over the integration of Osaka. But both, especially Matsui, have forged close relations with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Suga, communicating regularly to discuss how Ishin no To, the national political party Hashimoto co-founded, but has now renounced, might support Abe¡¯s policies, especially constitutional revision, in the Diet.

Matsui told reporters his conversation with Suga touched upon Sunday¡¯s meeting with mostly Osaka-based Ishin no To Diet members, who voted to dissolve the party.

On Saturday, Matsui and Hashimoto, along with about 20 Diet allies, will meet to form a new national party called Osaka (written in hiragana) Ishin no To. The governor has indicated it would work with the LDP where possible.

¡°We¡¯ll cooperate in certain areas. There¡¯s no upside for Japan with opposition parties that just attack the government,¡± Matsui said.

Suga declined to comment on the meeting.

But the Matsui-Suga meeting has created anger in the LDP¡¯s Osaka chapter.

While Abe has endorsed Kurihara, there is a feeling among some local LDP members that he did so reluctantly, and would prefer to see Matsui win.

Kurihara, who has also been endorsed by the local chapters of the Japanese Communist Party and Democratic Party of Japan, is running behind Matsui, according to a Kyodo poll earlier this week.

Kurihara was on the defensive Wednesday about her relations with the Abe administration, emphasizing her connection to the government via the LDP.

¡°There¡¯s no doubt that if I win, I¡¯ll be a strong conduit to the central government,¡± she said.