Achchhe din for allies Sena and BJP? Too early to speculate, say leaders

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s trip to New Delhi, where he attended a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting, has sparked speculations that bitterness between the ruling allies in the state is subsiding.

Leaders from both sides, however, hinted that it is too early to reach such a conclusion.

After almost three years of bitter tussles, top leaders of the BJP and Sena met and dined together on Monday. Party leaders told HT that the Delhi trip had yielded positive developments, but it was still too early to call it a truce.

The Sena will have to accept that the BJP is its big brother in Maharashtra, while the BJP will have to give the Sena a greater share of power, the leaders said.

“The Sena may expect something

in return for its support for the Presidential elections. It could be in the form of a ministerial berth at the Centre or a couple of key departments in the state,”said a BJP leader. Significantly, most BJP leaders in the state are not too optimistic that the Sena will soften its stand completely. However, Sena leadership will prefer to stay with the Bjp-led National Democratic

Alliance (NDA) now, they added.

On Monday, the NDA constituents adopted a resolution to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Uddhav Thackeray and other NDA partners expressed faith in Modi’s leadership and resolved to contest the general elections as a unit, according to Union finance minister Arun Jaitely. The meeting was called ahead of the Presidential election, scheduled for July, and the Sena is likely to support BJP’S candidate for the first time in 10 years.

“The meeting was convened to review work done in the past three years. I have raised the issues of waiving farmers’ loans and I am sure that the Centre will come out with a positive development,” Uddhav said.