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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday rejected Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's claim that many leaders from the ruling BJP wish for an alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
Casual meetings should not be interpreted politically, responded Mr Fadnavis to a query by the media in Delhi after Mr Raut made the remark following an interaction between BJP leader Chandrakant Patil and Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide Milind Narvekar here.
Mr Raut's comments came after Narvekar, a Member of the Legislative Council, and Mr Patil had a few jovial exchanges in the presence of Thackeray at the wedding reception of BJP MLA Parag Alavani's daughter on Wednesday night.
BJP's Alavani is a three-time MLA from Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai. A BJP functionary said Thackeray shares cordial relations with Alavani.
Those who attended the reception said Narvekar joked with Mr Patil, “It's good that journalists are not here...otherwise, they would say alliance talks are on.” Mr Patil quipped, “It would be a golden moment.” “Patil belongs to the older generation of BJP who understands the significance of Shiv Sena-BJP ties. It worked well for 25 years,” said Mr Raut, adding that many in the BJP share Mr Patil's “golden moment” sentiments.
Dismissing Mr Raut's claims, Mr Fadnavis told reporters in Delhi, “No one should be naive enough to think that just because people meet at a wedding (reception), an alliance is formed or parties come closer.” The Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena and BJP were partners for 25 years till the parties fell apart after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections over the post of chief minister. Then Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray subsequently joined hands with Congress and NCP to become the CM under the banner of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The MVA government fell in 2022 after Shinde led a rebellion in Shiv Sena and split the party. He later got the party name and its ‘bow and arrow' symbol.
Asked if leaders in the Sena (UBT) also share the same feeling of partnering with the BJP, Mr Raut had said earlier, “There might be. We went with the MVA because of some leaders in the BJP. You split our party and gave what we were rightfully demanding to Eknath Shinde.” Though no such discussions have taken place within the Sena (UBT), some members of the party might also share the same sentiments, he said.
“I doubt how long Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena will stay with the BJP. We are in a wait-and-watch mode,” said the Sena (UBT) leader.
He added, “We have had such discussions several times earlier. However, there have been no talks in Sena (UBT) yet.” The wedding reception of Alvani's daughter was also attended by leaders from the ruling Mahayuti, which comprises BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and NCP headed by Ajit Pawar, and people from the entertainment industry, including filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, Shivaji Satam and Sachin Khedekar.
Former Congressmen Kripashankar Singh and Krishna Hegde, who fought against Alavani from the Vile Parle assembly constituency in the state polls last year, also came to greet the newlyweds. Singh is now in the BJP, while Hegde is with the Shiv Sena.
In the recently held elections, Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the state, with the three parties in the MVA collectively bagging only 46 seats.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Agency staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)