Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will boycott the inauguration of the Magnetic Maharashtra business summit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening because of his party’s differences with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr Thackeray’s decision is politically significant since the Sena has declared that it will go solo in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, said Sena sources.
PM Modi will also attend the land breaking ceremony of Assembly elections on Sunday as well as inaugurate the Artificial Intelligence Institute at Mumbai University at Kalina. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has sent an invite to Mr Thackeray, who recently met him on Nanar refinery project issue.
According to a senior Shiv Sena leader, Mr Thackeray has differences with PM Modi and CM Fadnavis on many issues. Hence, he has decided not to share the stage with them, said the leader. The Sena has not left any opportunity to slam PM Modi and will fight against the BJP in the upcoming elections. So there is little point in sharing the stage with the PM. The leader further said that since Mr Modi and CM Fadnavis were going ahead with those projects which the Sena had objected to, Mr Thackeray is not interested in attending the programme. The Asian Age had reported earlier that Mr Thackeray would not attend the function.
Mr Thackeray had also boycotted ‘Make In India’s inaugural function in 2016 as he was not offered the seat near to the PM Modi due to protocol issues. He had not attended the land breaking ceremony of Dr Ambedkar Memorial at Indu Mills for the same reason. So he was invited and offered a seat close to PM Modi at the Jalpuja function.
