Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai’s Dadar, sparking buzz over possible tie-up ahead of the likely elections of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) this year.
However, Eknath Shinde cleared the air and said that it was “not right to draw political meaning from every meeting”.
The deputy CM made his first visit to Raj Thackeray’s residence ‘Shivtirtha’ since the state assembly elections last year. Thackeray’s son Amit and Mumbai MNS chief Sandeep Deshpande were also present at the meeting with Shinde, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.
Later, a Shiv Sena functionary said that the MNS chief had invited Shinde for dinner. But the meeting gained significance in the backdrop of the elections to the Mumbai civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, expected to be held this year. The polls have reportedly been pending for three years now.
Eknath Shinde told reporters that his meeting with Thackeray was a “courtesy visit”, citing that the two used to work together since the time of Balasaheb Thackeray.
“Due to some reasons, we did not meet for a while. You know the reason for that, but now we can meet anytime and talk. He also meets me…it is not right to draw political meaning from every meeting,” Shinde clarified.
Notably, over the last two months, the MNS has also been seeking to revive its agitation demanding that Marathi should be used everywhere in the state.
Shinde denies buzz of rift in Mahayuti
Just a couple of days, Shinde’s back-to-back meetings with union home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah during his Maharashtra visit had raised several eyebrows in the political circuit. The deputy CM had reportedly met Shah to complain how he and his party were being sidelines by leaders of the two other parties in the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP and the NCP.
A BJP leader had said that the meeting between the two on Sunday morning was completely unscheduled, resulting in a delay in Shah’s departure from Mumbai.
After the meeting, Shinde had spoken to reporters and ruled out reports of a rift within the ruling alliance.
“Ours is a party that believes in work and not grumbling. Even if there are any issues, we resolve them by discussing within the alliance. There is nothing wrong in meeting Amitbhai, who is the leader of the Mahayuti and the NDA,” he said.
Later Ajit Pawar had also claimed that all was well with the alliance, saying that he did not think that Shinde met Shah to complain about him.