Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah will meet Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s Bandra family home, Matoshree, on Wednesday. The unprecedented visit, only the third by Mr. Shah since 2014, gains importance against the backdrop of setbacks to the BJP in recent bye-elections, and the Congress’s renewed bids to make new allies before the general elections next year.
The Sena, despite being the BJP’s oldest ally and a part of the State and Central governments, has found little or no common ground, criticising the BJP at nearly every turn.
Earlier this year, the party made it clear it would be contesting all elections on its own, thus ruling out an electoral alliance. In the hotly-contested Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll, the Sena candidate had ended up second-best while the BJP’s victory margin fell drastically when compared to the 2014 result.
‘All are welcome’
Mr. Shah, who has visited the city several times, had kept Matoshree off his itinerary. The Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Raut, said, “Matoshree welcomes all. Amit Shah asked for an appointment with Uddhav Thackeray, and the meeting will take place at 6 p.m.. Matoshree has traditionally welcomed everyone. The Sena has no agenda for this meeting.”
According to BJP sources, Mr. Shah is meeting political leaderships and influential people across the country as part of Sampark for Samarthan, his door-to-door campaign to lay the ground for the general elections. During his visit to the city, he will also be meeting legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, actor Madhuri Dixit and industrialist Ratan Tata.
The Shah-Thackeray meeting has set political circles abuzz, given the estranged relations between the parties. A Sena leader said, “BJP remembers us when they are in a crisis and want to bring everything back to normal. We have already announced what we will be doing, and the decision to go solo in the elections in unlikely to change,” .
Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray declined to comment on Wednesday’s meeting, saying, “Top leaders of both parties will be holding discussion tomorrow. I shouldn’t be speculating anything today.”