Mumbai: Two months after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray virtually declared his exit from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), there are signs of a thaw.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was scheduled to meet Thackeray at the legislature premises on Wednesday evening, but the meeting could not happen since Fadnavis was busy. Later in the day, the chief minister telephoned Thackeray to express his regret at not being able to meet.

Earlier in the day, speaking in the legislative assembly, Fadnavis used metaphors to convey the point that the BJP and Shiv Sena were still together and would win the next elections together. “The lion and the tiger are together and so we don’t have to worry about mice," Fadnavis said, referring to the opposition’s criticism during the budget session over a controversial government contract to kill rats in the Mantralaya building. A roaring tiger is the Shiv Sena icon.

Addressing the Shiv Sena cadres at the party’s national executive council meeting on 23 January, Thackeray had said the Sena would henceforth fight all elections on its own. The BJP-Shiv Sena fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections together, but split before the Maharashtra assembly polls in October the same year. In February 2017, the saffron parties fought a fierce battle for control over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Shiv Sena won by a whisker.

But since his January call to the cadres, Thackeray has had two rounds of discussions with Fadnavis on different issues. The Shiv Sena chief met Fadnavis on 15 February to convey the Sena’s opposition to a proposed mega refinery and petrochemical complex project in Ratnagiri. After that meeting, Fadnavis said the government would not coerce the people into accepting the project.

On Wednesday, Thackeray was scheduled to discuss with Fadnavis the completion of development works in the assembly constituencies represented by Shiv Sena legislators and timely release of funds to the Sena legislators. Though the meeting did not take place, Fadnavis is learnt to have told Thackeray on the phone that he would look into the Sena legislators’ concerns, according to a BJP functionary who did not want to be named.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via