Amit Shah, Bhaiyyaji Joshi meet in Mumbai

Amit Shah leaves after a meeting at Pithruchaya building in Dadar on Tuesday morning. Express

BJP president Amit Shah met RSS sarakaryavah Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi here Tuesday in what the latter described as a courtesy call. “It was just a courtesy call. There was no discussion on politics,” said Joshi after the meeting. Sources said Shah apprised Joshi about the BJP National Executive Conclave, which concluded in Delhi Monday. “It’s a general practice that after every BJP national executive meeting, the party president meets RSS leaders and apprises them of the developments,” said a BJP source. Sources, however, indicated there was a possibility of the central BJP leadership inducting suspended Trinamool Congress MP Mukul Roy into the party to consolidate its base in West Bengal.

Fielding questions, Joshi refused to comment on the BJP-Shiv Sena ties. “It’s for the BJP to comment,” he said.

Similarly, the RSS leader refrained from commenting on former Congress leader Narayan Rane, who recently quit the party amid speculation that he might join the BJP. “It’s for the BJP to decide,” he said.

On Monday, Rane met Shah in Delhi but there was no indication in the meeting about Rane’s much-speculated entry into the ruling party. The lack of enthusiasm was seen as a sign that the BJP central leadership was not too keen on inducting Rane at the moment. Rane landed in Delhi accompanied by Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve and senior BJP minister Chandrakant Patil.

A BJP functionary said on Monday, “It was evident from the manner in which the whole thing went that the BJP central leadership is not favourably inclined to induct Rane at the moment.” He added that it also indicated that the BJP was not going to buckle under any pressure or pre-condition by Rane to join the party.

Sources said the BJP’s stand on Rane had gone down well with both party and RSS workers. It has also helped the party take the steam out of the Shiv Sena’s threat to withdraw support to the state government, the sources added. Secondly, the Shiv Sena, which never misses an opportunity to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appears to have softened its stance. On Tuesday, Sena political managers went out of the way to highlight how Modi had taken note of Yuva Sena president Aaditya Thackeray for his “shramdan” at Mumbai beach for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Meanwhile, the Sena and Rane’s war of words escalated with both sides attacking each other through posters and tweets.