BJP chief Amit Shah to call on Uddhav Thackeray tomorrow

Mumbai: BJP chief Amit Shah would call on Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence here tomorrow, a move which comes days after the bickering allies contested the Palghar bypoll separately. The move is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to reach out the sulking ally which has openly criticised senior BJP leaders. 

“Amit Shah sought time to meet Uddhavji. Accordingly, an appointment of tomorrow evening has been given to him,” Sena MP Sanjay Raut told PTI. He, however, questioned the need for Shah to meet Thackeray after a gap of four years.

“We showed that we can fight alone when we contested the Palghar bypoll. We may have lost, however, the message has been sent across. We received lakhs of votes (in Palghar) where we had never contested an election,” Raut pointed out while talking to reporters here.

In the May 28 Lok Sabha bypoll, the Sena candidate, Shrinivas Wanaga, secured 2,43,210 votes but lost to BJP’s Rajendra Gavitt by a margin of 29,572 votes. Raut said NDA allies were one after the other deserting the BJP. There was angst against the BJP, thus the party might have started a reconciliatory measure, he said.

Asked if the Sena will continue with its stand of going solo in all the forthcoming elections, Raut said party chief Thackeray had taken a call on not forging an alliance after due considerations. “This decision was taken keeping people’s sentiments in mind. I don’t think there will be any change in this stand,” the Rajya Sabha member said.