Mumbai: A meeting between Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar fuelled speculations of a political alliance between the two. Mr. Thackeray met Mr. Pawar for over 40 minutes at the latter’s residence in South Mumbai early Saturday morning. The MNS chief later described it as a ‘pre-scheduled’ courtesy call, and not a political meet. “I haven’t met Mr. Pawar in a long time. We had decided that whenever he arrives in Mumbai next, we would meet. This was a respectful courtesy call and we didn’t discuss politics at all,” Mr. Thackeray said.
Both leaders have of late adopted a rather aggressive stand against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and BJP’s repeated critique of former prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
On Sunday, Mr. Thackeray will address the annual Gudi Padwa rally, while Mr. Pawar will release a book in the company of the MNS chief’s cousin and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray. The Shiv Sena meanwhile, took a dig at the NCP and said Mr. Pawar should focus more on his job in New Delhi. “By getting involved in State politics, Mr. Pawar will only hurt his own national reputation. This might have something to do with the ongoing alliance politics in Delhi,” said Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut.
Last month, Mr. Raj Thackeray and Mr. Pawar shared the stage at a function at Pune, where they publicly spoke out against Mr. Modi’s criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru. “It is wrong to say Pandit Nehru had no contribution to the development of this country,” Mr. Pawar had said during the interaction. Without naming Mr. Modi, the NCP chief said in politics ‘certain boundaries’ should not be crossed.
