Mumbai: After the details of the alleged meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar got out in public, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his party men have chosen not to respond to it on Wednesday. Sena sources confirmed that any decision of withdrawing support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state, in which Shiv Sena is a partner, would be taken only after the verdict of the Gujarat assembly elections are out.
“Much depends on the outcome of the Gujarat polls. That state will show the mood of the nation. The decision on whether to withdraw support or not would be taken only after that,” said a senior Sena functionary on conditions of anonymity.
Mr Thackeray and Mr Pawar met in Mumbai 10 days back and discussed the current situation in state politics. According to sources, Mr Thackeray even asked Mr Pawar about his party’s stand in case the Sena decided to withdraw support from the state government. The NCP chief reportedly did not commit to anything but suggested Mr Thackeray pull out support first. This information rocked state politics and talks of political instability started doing the rounds.
It was expected that the Sena leadership would come public about the meeting with Mr Pawar, but surprisingly neither Mr Thackeray or any other Sena leader uttered a word on the reports. This silence itself has become a talking point in political corridors. The Asian Age tried to contact Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, but he couldn’t be reached.
A senior Sena functionary later put the Sena side in perspective. “It is no secret that out relations with the BJP are bitter and there is no sign of improvment. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s recent statements on our party and his praise for Mr Pawar is a sign that BJP too is taking a hard stand. In this case, there is strong opinion within the party to leave the government and go to the public and expose the BJP’s politics,” he said.
Saamana editorial
Meanwhile, the Sena mouthpiece Saamana took potshots at Mr Sharad Pawar and the NCP’s two day-convention in Karjat. “Mr Pawar is nowadays holding Chintan Shivir. It seems that Mr Prafull Patel is heading the brain storming part of the party. Mr Patel has raised issue of Mr Pawar’s ambition to be Prime Minister. We would like to know whether this chintan is in line with the BJP? Because generally it is the BJP that has a habit of going for chintan,” taunted the editorial.
