Mumbai: If you want, you can join us. That was Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ open offer in the state assembly to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and rival Uddhav Thackeray. The ‘invitation’ was received with laughter from both sides.
The comment came as Fadnavis was thanking Ambadas Danve, leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, before his term ends next month.
The banter comes after recent rifts and power tussles among the Mahayuti allies, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was present in the assembly when Fadnavis made the ‘offer’.
Fadnavis said, “Till 2029, we have no scope of sitting in the Opposition. But Uddhav ji, you can shift to this side. This can be thought through,” he said.
Speaking to mediapersons after the assembly, Uddhav Thackeray said, “These things happened in a lighter vein. And so they need not be taken seriously. It was a light banter and should be looked upon like that.”
However, this is not the first instance of such an interaction. After the assembly elections, Thackeray and his party members had softened their stand on Fadnavis.
In January, the Shiv Sena (UBT) uncharacteristically praised Fadnavis for visiting Gadchiroli on the first day of the new year, inaugurating development projects there and promising to turn around the district torn by Naxal violence into a “steel district”.
When the winter session of the state legislature was underway, Thackeray went to meet Fadnavis to congratulate him on taking charge as the Maharashtra CM.
Despite being a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Shiva Sena (UBT) is mulling the option of going solo or with estranged cousin Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls later this year.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)