KC Venugopal meets Uddhav, promises to ‘save’ democracy together

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to build national unity within the opposition. Venugopal invited Thackeray to meet former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Thackeray stated that the opposition parties are coming together to save democracy. Meanwhile, Ameya Ghole, a close aide of MLA Aaditya Thackeray, resigned from the party's youth wing and joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of chief minister Eknath Shinde. Ghole blamed Shiv Sena leaders for his decision.

Mumbai: In an effort to build national unity within the opposition, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Monday met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree, the Thackeray family residence in Bandra (East). Venugopal also invited him to meet former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief in the joint press conference said that the country is facing a bigger issue which is nothing but a danger to democracy. “The equation and unity among opposition parties are against arrogance and self-importance. All the parties have their own ideology which is what democracy means. We want to save this and thus have come together,” Thackeray added. (Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

“Uddhav is fighting against anti-democratic forces in the country. We all have witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have completely sabotaged democracy. The opposition parties are being targeted through the enforcement directorate and central bureau of investigation, especially Shiv Sena,” Venugopal said, adding that Congress is completely standing in solidarity with Shiv Sena (UBT) and are together in this fight.

“I have requested Uddhav to meet Sonia Gandhi because you know (she is not well) after which Rahul Gandhi will also visit Mumbai,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief in the joint press conference said that the country is facing a bigger issue which is nothing but a danger to democracy. “The equation and unity among opposition parties are against arrogance and self-importance. All the parties have their own ideology which is what democracy means. We want to save this and thus have come together,” Thackeray added.

Ameya Ghole joins Shinde Sena

Meanwhile, a close aide of MLA Aaditya Thackeray and ex-corporator of BMC, Ameya Ghole, on Monday resigned from the party’s youth wing and joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of chief minister Eknath Shinde.

For leaving Yuva Sena, he blamed Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Shraddha Jadhav and Suraj Chavan for his decision. Chavan is considered a key aide of Aaditya.

“I joined politics because of you and I honestly worked for the last 13 years to do justice with responsibilities in the party organisation. But while working in the Wadala assembly constituency woman organiser Shraddha Jadhav and party secretary Suraj Chavan created hurdles before me. I shared all this with you but nothing has changed,” said Ghole in a letter written to Aaditya.