SHAH BOWS TO MATOSHREE
BJP president Amit Shah, in a major climb down, has sought an appointment with Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray at latter’s residence Matoshree, ostensibly to repair the badly bruised relations between the two alliance partners.
This is a clear indication that with the non-BJP formulation gathering countrywide momentum, the BJP is coming under great deal of pressure to win over new allies and wean the ‘sulking’ ones back into its fold.
This will be the second such meeting between Shah and Thackeray. The first one took place exactly a year ago when the BJP chief came calling in June 2017 to seek Uddhav’s support in the Presidential election. Sena had relented then after making discordant noises; it remains to be seen whether it will be placated this time.
"Amit Shah sought time to meet Uddhav ji. Accordingly, an appointment for Wednesday evening has been given to him," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told news agency PTI.
‘‘We have no agenda for the meeting. It is the culture of the Shiv Sena to welcome guests at Matoshree,’’ added Raut, trying to hide their glee at the apparent climb down. The meeting has come on the heels of Raut’s recent jibe that the BJP is its "biggest political enemy."
The relations between the two partners plummeted to a new low when Shiv Sena 'hijacked' Shriniwas Vanga - the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Vanga - and gave him the party ticket for the May 28 Palghar Lok Sabha bypolls. A raging BJP had to perforce induct former Congressman Rajendra Gavit, who defeated Vanga.
More important, the BJP also lost the Bhandhara-Gondia seat to NCP-Congress combine. After the rot, Raut had, in a scathing editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', said the country was in a state of mind that "it can accept the Congress or the Janata Dal Secular's HD Deve Gowda but not PM Modi and Amit Shah." Raut had also accused the BJP of using its resources to defeat the Sena in Palghar even while "staying afloat in the State with the Sena's help". The BJP, on the other hand, is trying to project the matoshree meeting as part of an outreach programme by the BJP to mollify its allies and build bridges before the 2019 parliamentary battle. It does not want to admit there is a climb down by the ‘senior’ partner.