Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray shared the stage during two events Tuesday, a rare occurrence since the Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP and entered into a three-party alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to govern the state.
The two leaders were seen together at the inauguration of the ‘Gallery of Revolutionaries’ built inside a British-era bunker under the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, and a ceremony at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to commemorate 200 years of Gujarati newspaper Mumbai Samachar.
“What to say today is a big question because the perspectives through which what I say might be seen could be different,” Thackeray said in his speech at the Raj Bhavan. “In a year when we are celebrating 75 years of Independence, the inauguration of a gallery of revolutionaries by the Prime Minister is a very auspicious occasion,” he added.
Speaking at the Mumbai Samachar event, CM Thackeray dwelt on his “love for Gujarati”, while PM Modi hailed Maharashtra for “inspiring the country in many ways”. But the two leaders avoided making any political comments despite the increasingly choppy ties between the two former allies.
Just three days ago, the BJP trumped the MVA in an unusually bitter battle for a Rajya Sabha seat. The two are set to go head-to-head again in about a week, for the Member of Legislative Council (MLC) polls in Maharashtra.
In his address, Thackeray also referred to Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis as his “friend”, adding that he wishes “relations between Gujaratis and Marathis only deepen as we go ahead”.
Modi, meanwhile, said in his address at the Raj Bhavan that Maharashtra had given India many social reformers, saints and freedom fighters. Maratha warrior kings Chhatrapati Shivaji and Sambhaji “strengthen the sense of patriotism even today”, he added.
There was, however, some rancour Tuesday as Fadnavis made a speech during PM Modi’s rally in Pune’s Dehu, while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was allegedly not allowed to deliver one.
During the event, when PM Modi was asked to take the podium, he, too, seemed surprised that Pawar was not invited to speak before him.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, NCP MP Supriya Sule said the Maharashtra government had sent a request to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to accommodate Ajit Pawar’s speech in the minute-to-minute programme for the event, “but they did not take it into consideration”.
“Not letting Ajit dada (elder brother) make a speech while allowing Devendra Fadnavis to speak when Ajit dada is deputy CM and guardian minister of the Pune district, is injustice to the MVA. It is once again an attempt to stifle our voice,” she said.
BJP Maharashtra tweeted from its official handle that the programme at Dehu was not a government event, but a private one.
“Protocols are for government events and not for private ones. PM Modi himself requested Ajit dada to make a speech, but he refused. Of the three programmes that PM Narendra Modi attended, two did not have speeches by Devendra Fadnavis, but the BJP did not raise any objections,” it said.
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Significance of Modi-Thackeray meeting
Earlier in the day, Thackeray received Modi at Mumbai’s naval air station INS Shikra where the latter arrived after inaugurating a temple in Dehu. While in Pune, the Prime Minister also addressed a gathering of followers of the Warkari sect.
Ever since the Sena decided to part ways with the BJP and join hands with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Congress to form a coalition government in Maharashtra in 2019, the two former allies have been locked in a tussle over who among them is more committed to Hindutva.
Relations between the MVA and the BJP have been especially tense over the past few months with the three-party alliance accusing the party of misusing central probe agencies to target its leaders. More than half a dozen MVA leaders are under the scanner of probe agencies, including Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who has been in ED custody since February.
In April this year, the last time Modi was in Mumbai, Thackeray had avoided meeting him.
The chief minister had skipped an event at Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai’s Sion during which the Prime Minister was awarded the first Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award. At the time, MVA leaders were reportedly upset about the invitation card of the programme not carrying CM Thackeray’s name.
Despite the protocol, Uddhav Thackeray did not receive Modi, who was instead received by the state’s Protocol Minister Aaditya Thackeray and Industries Minister Subhash Desai.
Instead, Thackeray and his family went to meet Chandrabhaga Shinde, an octogenarian Shiv Sena worker, who had vociferously protested against Independent legislator couple Navneet and Ravi Rana challenging the CM to stop them from reading the Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree, the residence of the Thackerays.
This is also why Modi and Thackeray sharing a stage in Mumbai Tuesday is being seen as a significant development.
After he became the chief minister of Maharashtra in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray met Modi for the first time in December 2019 when he received the latter at Pune airport. The Prime Minister was in Pune to attend a national conference of director generals (DGPs) and inspector generals of police (IGPs).
The two leaders met again in June last year when a delegation led by CM Thackeray travelled to New Delhi to meet PM Modi with a charter of 12 demands. Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar of the NCP and minister Ashok Chavan of the Congress were also part of the delegation.
During this visit, Thackeray and Modi also held a one-on-one meeting behind closed doors. Speaking to reporters afterwards, CM Thackeray had said: “We may not be in power together, but that does not mean our relations are broken.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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