Aaditya meets INDIA bloc leaders, avoids Sharad Pawar

Thackeray’s trip is seen as an attempt to reach out to the leaders of the INDIA coalition as his party is wary of Pawar’s moves. Thackeray also raised questions about the results of the Delhi and Maharashtra assembly elections, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept with landslide wins

MUMBAI: Less than 24 hours after his party’s blistering criticism of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar for felicitating deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde at a function in Delhi on Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray made his stand unmistakably clear. He rushed to the capital late on Wednesday and met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday – but conspicuously avoided meeting Pawar, who was also in Delhi.

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal meets Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

Thackeray’s trip is seen as an attempt to reach out to the leaders of the INDIA coalition as his party is wary of Pawar’s moves. Thackeray also raised questions about the results of the Delhi and Maharashtra assembly elections, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept with landslide wins.

The Pawar-Shinde bonhomie at a function organised in the run-up to the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Delhi has set the cat among the pigeons for the Sena (UBT). “Shinde stole our party and election symbol,” said Thackeray, referring to how Shinde split the Sena down the middle and toppled the MVA government in 2022. He went on to team up with the BJP and together established the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra. “During his tenure as chief minister, he (Shinde) sent industries in Maharashtra to neighbouring states. Why was he felicitated,” remarked Thackeray.

The Sena (UBT)’s scathing outburst has surprised the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a coalition of three opposition parties – the Sena (UBT), Congress and Pawar-led NCP (SP). On Wednesday, party MP Sanjay Raut called Shinde a “traitor” and accused Pawar of “political brokering”.

These moves have only deepened the fissures in the opposition coalition after last year’s assembly elections, where the MVA was decimated by the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, of which Shinde’s Sena is a part. Worse, the Sena (UBT)’s remarks come amid bickering within the MVA over local body elections that are likely to be held later this year. Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has already indicated that his party may go solo in these polls.

“Both the meetings were courtesy calls,” Thackeray insisted, referencing his Delhi trip while addressing the media on Thursday. He also drew parallels between the MVA’s defeat in the Maharashtra assembly polls last November and the AAP’s rout in the recent Delhi assembly elections. “There is a question mark over whether free and fair elections are taking place in our country. The election process doesn’t seem fair and transparent,” he alleged. He also pointed out that the MVA has raised objections to the addition of 47 lakh voters in Maharashtra before the polls last year.

On him not meeting Pawar in Delhi, Thackeray said, “We keep meeting him in Mumbai. We met him only last month.” Responding to NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe’s remarks that the Pawar faction had not objected when the Thackerays had met NCP chief Ajit Pawar in Nagpur during winter session of the state legislature in December, Thackeray said: “We did meet Ajit Pawar but we did not praise him for what he did.” Thackeray was referring to Ajit Pawar splitting the NCP in 2023, being awarded the party’s name and symbol, and then joining the BJP-led Mahayuti government, in much the same was as Shinde had done the previous year.

Apart from strengthening ties with INDIA bloc leaders Gandhi and Kejriwal, the Thackerays are also warming up to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, whose equation with Shinde has been fraught since the formation of the Mahayuti government in December.

“Our relations with INDIA bloc parties are not dependent on Pawar. We are a serious player in national politics and can deal directly with the Congress and other parties. That is why Uddhavji has been maintaining contact with Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal and West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee,” said a Sena (UBT) MP.

During Thackeray’s meeting with Gandhi, he discussed the issue of electronic voting machines, alleged manipulation of the electoral rolls, and how the opposition can take the issue to the people, said sources. On his meeting with Kejriwal, Thackeray told the media, “Governments come and go, relations should be maintained. That’s what I told him.”

Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) is playing down Thackeray’s Delhi visit. NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad said, “It is not necessary that every time our allies go to Delhi they should meet Pawar.”

Shinde, however, couldn’t resist taking a potshot at the Sena (UBT). “Pawar is a mature leader. Did he ever object to what Uddhav Thackeray did as chief minister of the MVA government?”