Amid talks of rift, Uddhav meets Ajit

MUMBAI: A day after differences between the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) came to the fore, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar met on Tuesday evening. The meeting between the two leaders came after NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Thackeray on Monday, who was believed to be upset over the unilateral decision to transfer 10 IPS officers and poaching of five Sena corporators by the NCP.

Thackeray and Ajit Pawar met at the Bal Thackeray memorial plot at Shivaji Park and the two leaders are believed to have discussed the two issues and matters related to lockdown. Sena ministers Aaditya Thackeray, Eknath Shinde and Anil Parab, and NCP minister Anil Deshmukh were also present at the former Mayor’s bungalow.

Meanwhile, Pawar on Tuesday said appointments of IPS and IAS officers are done with the approval of chief minister, ending the controversy.

Earlier in the day, Sena leader Sanjay Raut chose to downplay the friction between the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies. Commenting on the recent developments, Raut said, “There is no lack of coordination or bickering or any ‘internal differences’ within the government as the leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis has been claiming. The word ‘internal differences’ is not part of MVA’S dictionary. If there are issues, we discuss and resolve them.”

He also said it would not be correct to say that Ajit Pawar engineered the defection of five Sena corporators from Parner Nagar Panchayat in Ahmednagar. The Sena leader termed the issue of corporators a “local” one, which has now been resolved. On Monday, Thackeray conveyed to Pawar that the five corporators should come back to the Sena. The message was sent to the NCP leader by Thackeray’s personal assistant and party secretary Milind Narvekar. However, the five corporators are unwilling to go back and are planning to resign and remain with the NCP, as they are unhappy with the party’s local leadership in Ahmednagar.

Muddassar Sayyad, one of the corporators, told TV channels, “If the NCP asks us to return to the Sena, we will resign and seek membership of the NCP, but will not return.” Another corporator Nandkumar Deshmukh said, “Former MLA [Vijay Auti] did not let us work, neither did he do anything for people.”

Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, who is the executive editor of Sena mouthpiece Saamana, recorded an interview with Pawar on Monday. He said Pawar, in the interview that will be published on July 11, has expressed confidence that the three-party government will complete its full term.