Amit Shah meets Uddhav Thackeray as BJP looks to placate sulking Shiv Sena

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Shah’s visit is being seen as the BJP’s bid to placate its sulking ally, days after the two parties contested the Palghar by-elections separately.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was not present in the meeting, while state BJP president Raosaheb Patil-Danve kept away in deference to the Shiv Sena’s wishes, IANS reported.

Shah will travel to Chandigarh on Thursday to call on Badal and his son, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal, as part of the BJP’s ‘Sampark for Samarthan’ or outreach programme .

The series of meetings are being seen as an attempt by the BJP to reach out to allies who have either been criticising or expressing their dissent with the party and also to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

Earlier, Shah called on industrialist Ratan Tata and actress Madhuri Dixit in Mumbai and briefed them on the achievements of the Narendra Modi government. However, the BJP president’s scheduled meeting with Singer Lata Mangeshkar was cancelled as she was down with food poisoning.

Hours before the meeting, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna criticised its BJP’s outreach programme. the editorial said Shiv Sena would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on its own.

Making fun of the BJP, the Sena said the party has launched a global outreach programme, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a world tour and Shah on a domestic one.