Thackeray-Pawar discussed political developments in country and Maharashtra: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar discussed political developments in Maharashtra and the country during their meeting a day before, which he termed as positive.

Thackeray had visited Pawar’s residence in south Mumbai on Tuesday late evening. Raut said Congress general secretary K C Venugopal has sought Thackeray's time for a meeting. He said Venugopal will meet Thackeray as a representative of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the priority is to maintain the Opposition unity.

The possible meeting between Thackeray and Venugopal will be held amid strained ties between Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) after Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, which were objected to by Thackeray.

The two leaders met against the backdrop of Pawar's stand which was at variance with Congress and other Opposition parties vis-a-vis their demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into allegations against the Adani Group.

In an interview with a Marathi news channel, which was telecast on Tuesday, Pawar said Thackeray had quit as chief minister (in June 2022) without consulting the constituents of Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Congress.

Raut also said the Shiv Sena (UBT) was firm on its demand that those who insulted Bal Thackeray should have no place in the state Cabinet, a reference to BJP leader and minister Chandrakant Patil's remarks that not a single worker of Shiv Sena was near the Babri Masjid when it was demolished.