Mumbai: Even before BJP president Amit Shah descended on Mumbai, there was this buzz about his outreach programme, as a part of which he was meeting Bollywood celebrities – Lata and Madhuri Dixit Nene — and industrialist Ratan Tata.
So, Shah was least prepared when the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, excused herself, as she is down with ‘food poisoning’. While most took her innocuous statement at face value, sceptics saw in it a strong Marathi snub. Of course, Lata was nice enough to assure Shah that she would make herself available next time he wishes to meet her in Mumbai.
At 4.10 pm, the Nightingale tweeted, “Aaj BJP ki adhyaksha mananeey @AmitShah ji se meri mulaqaat honewali thi parantu mujhe food poisoning hone ki wajah se maine unse telephone pe baat karke milne mein asamarthta vyakt ki aur agli baar jab bhi wo Mumbai aayenge tab unse milne ka nivedan kiya.” (Honourable BJP President Amit Shah was to meet me; however, I informed him on the telephone that since I was down with food poisoning I would be unable to meet him. However, I urged him to meet me the next time he visits Mumbai).
It is well-known that Lata has a strong affinity for Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navanirman Sena. With this polite denial, couched in a ruse of food poisoning, Mangeshkar has shown where her loyalties lie. So, Shah will have to be content with his meeting with ‘dhak dhak’ star Madhuri Dixit who obliged the BJP by circulating videos and photographs of their meeting. The next port of all was industrialist Ratan Tata but that meeting, sources said, was strictly all about business.
Later, BJP sources laid to rest speculation that Madhuri Dixit-Nene would be offered a BJP Rajya Sabha nomination, claiming no decision has been taken in the matter. Shah apprised the celebrities of the work done by Modi and his team in the last four years, the NDA government’s achievements and their vision for India. “As always, it was inspiring to meet Ratan Tataji with Amit Shahji… We also presented him a book on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on auspicious Shivrajyabhishek din,” Fadnavis later tweeted.