Sudhir Mungantiwar reaches out to Shiv Sena chief

Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar (right), state forest minister, gifts a fibreglass replica of a tiger to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray during his visit to Matoshree in Bandra. The replica is about 7-feet-long, 3.5-feet wide and weighs around 55 kg. (Photo: Rajesh Jadhav)

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and minister for forest Sudhir Mungantiwar — in an apparent endevour to break the ice with his party’s ally — called on Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at his Matoshree residence in Bandra.

This comes even as the leaders of the two parties were locked in verbal duels with the supporters of each even resorting to burning effigies just a few days ago.

Mr Mungantiwar extended the invitation for the government’s ambitious programme of planting two crore saplings and also presented a life-size replica of a tiger to the Sena president.

Meanwhile, Mr Mungantiwar too reiterated that the expansion of the state Cabinet would take place by July 10 before the chief minister left for a week-long official tour of Russia.

According to official sources, the state Cabinet expansion could take place any time after the expansion of the Union Cabinet on July 4.

Although Mr Mungantiwar later claimed that the two parties had agreed to end all hostilities, Uddhav Thackeray maintained the end to the disputes between them would depend entirely on the leadership of the two parties.

The Sena president added his party would continue to criticise the government’s policies which it feels are not in the public interest.

Pointing to the fiberglass replica of a tiger presented to him by Mr Mungantiwar, Sena president sarcastically said, “We are unanimous in our opinion that the population of the tigers in the environment should increase. However, these tigers are in the forests and this should not be linked with politics.”

Mr Mungantiwar too quipped, “Who rules the jungles, whether a tiger or the lion, depends on the nature of the forest.”