MUMBAI: Amid strained relations and constant bickering between the two saffron allies, BJP president Amit Shah called on Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence ‘Matoshree’ here yesterday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray were also present at the meeting which lasted about two hours.
While officially there was no word from both the parties about what transpired in the meeting, BJP sources claimed that the discussion was “positive” and would help reduce the tension between the two allies significantly.
The two parties may have two or three more such meetings, the sources added.
State BJP chief Raosaheb Danve, who accompanied Shah earlier in the day when he called on actor Madhuri Dixit-Nene and industrialist Ratan Tata, did not attend the meeting with Thackeray.
“My schedule was pre-decided. I was busy with organizational work,” Danve told reporters.
The BJP had earlier said the meeting was in connection with its ‘Sampark se Samarthan’ (contact for support) campaign, being led by Shah in the run-up to next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
The Sena and the BJP contested the May 28 bypolls to Palghar Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra separately and engaged in a bitter campaign against each other.
The Shiv Sena has particularly been upset with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has repeatedly attacked him.
After facing defeat in the Palghar bypoll at the hands of the BJP, the Shiv Sena labeled its ally as its “biggest political enemy”.
Even yesterday, the Sena questioned the “need” for the meeting between Shah and Thackeray “after a gap of four years” (since the Modi government was formed).
The Shiv Sena has already declared that it will go it alone in the 2019 general elections.
The two parties were allies for over two-and-a-half decades before they severed ties ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls, only to join hands later to form government under the leadership of Fadnavis in the state.
In today’s editorial in party mouthpiece “Saamna”, Shiv Sena questioned the BJP’s outreach programme after suffering defeat in bypolls in various states.
The editorial maintained that the Sena will fight all the upcoming elections alone.
“The prime minister is touring the world and BJP chief Amit Shah is going around the country as part of their ‘sampark’ programme. Shah will be meeting NDA allies. However, what exactly will he do? Why is he meeting at this juncture when the BJP has suffered defeat in bypolls,” the Sena asked in the editorial. PTI
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