PM’s one-to-one meeting with Uddhav part of protocol, says Fadnavis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-to-one meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in New Delhi is part of protocol and it would be premature to attribute any political motive to it, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, said on Tuesday.

Speaking to mediapersons in Mumbai, Fadnavis said, “When a CM leads a delegation to meet the PM, he gives an audience to the entire delegation. After that it is a general norm that the PM separately holds talks with the CM on important state issues.”

“When I was the CM, I had led several delegations to the PM. The PM would hold discussions with the entire delegation for some time and then hold a separate session with me,” he added.

“Moreover, Shiv Sena may not be BJP’s alliance partner, but the PM had very good relationship with late Bal Thackeray. There may be political differences but personal relations remain cordial.”

Welcoming Uddhav’s initiative meet the PM, Fadnavis said, “It certainly helps in building better coordination between the Centre and the state… Often we have seen the state pointing fingers at the Centre for every problem. Instead of blaming the Centre, it is better to have dialogue.”

He, however, added: “It would have served Maharashtra better had the CM focused on state welfare issues that are under the Centre’s jurisdiction. It would have yielded a quick response from the Centre. Unfortunately, the Thackeray delegation raised issues that the state has to tackle.”

On the delegation raising the issue of nominations of 12 MLCs pending with the Governor, he said, “What was the point of raising this issue with the PM?… Probably, the CM may have been under pressure from ally Congress to include the political issue in agenda.”

On the state seeking Centre’s intervention on resolving Maratha reservation issue, Fadnavis said, “The Dilip Bhosale committee report has listed what needs to be done at the state level. It has suggested that the government should file a revision petition in the Supreme Court. If it fails, the state should constitute a Backward Class commission. Once the commission completes its study, its report could be taken up with the National Backward Class Commission. But unfortunately, without completing its responsibilities, the Thackeray government is asking for Centre’s intervention.”

“Similarly, Supreme Court’s decision to strike down OBC reservation in local bodies has to be addressed by the state. Why is it asking the Centre to look into the matter?”