Most of the discussion was solely between Uddhav Thackeray and Shah and they are likely to meet again in the coming months.
Mumbai: Talks between BJP president Amit Shah and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Wednesday were positive and the two leaders plan to have more meetings in the next few months, BJP sources said.
The meeting at Matoshree, Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai’s suburban Bandra, went on for nearly two hours, even though it was scheduled for just one hour.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Thackeray’s son Aaditya attended a part of the meeting. However, most of the discussion was solely between Uddhav Thackeray and Shah behind closed doors in complete secrecy. All other leaders from the Shiv Sena as well as the BJP were kept out.
Shah is expected to have discussed the possibility of an alliance with the Shiv Sena for the 2019 Lok Sabha and state assembly polls. The Shiv Sena has passed a resolution to contest all future elections on its own strength.
While BJP leaders, requesting anonymity, said that the discussion was positive and there will be two or three more meetings in the coming months, Shiv Sena leaders remained unavailable for comment.
After the meeting at Matoshree, Shah headed to Sahyadri, the Maharashtra government’s official guest house at Malabar Hill, for a meeting of the state BJP’s senior-most leaders.
The meeting between Shah and Thackeray assumed special significance as it was held close on the heels of a bitterly-contested bypoll between the Shiv Sena and the BJP for the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency, and at a time the BJP has been trying to mend fences with its warring ally.
The BJP had said Shah’s visit to Matoshree was a part of the party’s ‘Sampark for Samarthan’ programme, a drive to reach out to key opinion makers across sectors in the country and inform them about the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government. The BJP president also met actor Madhuri Dixit and industrialist Ratan Tata in Mumbai as part of the drive.
However, hours before the meeting, the Shiv Sena indicated that it might take a hard line with an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana, slamming Shah’s outreach drive. In the editorial, the party also said that it will not budge from its resolve of contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha and state assembly elections indepently.
On a lighter note, expect a blow by blow account of the meeting in tomorrow’s Saamna …