Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chairman Sharad Pawar met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday, a day after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met with Shiv Sena lawmaker , Sanjay Raut, which generated speculation in political circles.
The NCP, together with the Congress party, is a partner in the Maharashtra government Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.
The PTI news agency said that, citing sources, Pawar met Thackeray at the prime minister’s official residence and that the meeting lasted about 40 minutes. He added that what happened during the meeting could not be known immediately. The Maharashtra unblocking process and the Covid-19 situation in the worst affected state were some of the topics discussed during the meeting, PTI reported.
Sharad Pawar has met with Thackeray several times in the past on similar issues.
The meeting between the veteran Maratha leader and Shiv Sena’s boss came after Fadnavis and Raut met at a hotel in Mumbai on Saturday, sparking speculation as to whether the two sides are trying to mend their relations amid the fight between the two in recent months.
On Sunday, Raut said that he met with the former prime minister of Maharashtra to discuss some issues and that the two might have ideological differences, but that there was no enmity between them. Fadnavis also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no intention of joining Shiv Sena or overthrowing the state government led by Thackeray. Fadnavis also said that the meeting was about an interview for Shiv Sena’s spokesperson ‘Saamana’.
The Shiv Sena had withdrawn from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Center in November last year and then severed ties with the BJP after the Maharashtra assembly elections over the issue of sharing the position of prime minister. Thackeray became the Prime Minister of Maharashtra after the support of Congress and the NCP.
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