BJP chief Amit Shah likely to meet Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray ahead of Presidential election

Shah is expected to bring the Maharashtra ally on board for the July 17 poll.
BJP chief Amit Shah (File | PTI)
BJP chief Amit Shah (File | PTI)

NEW DELHI: The BJP chief Amit Shah is likely to meet the Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray during his Maharashtra visit beginning Friday. With the Shiv Sena vocally expressing its views independently on the Presidential election, Shah is expected to bring the Maharashtra ally on board for the July 17 poll.

The Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna has also reported that the meeting of the party chief with Shah could take place on June 18. Incidentally, Shah is embarking on three days visit of the state as part of the campaign of the party to reach out to the people with the three years achievements of the Narendra Modi led NDA government.

The Shiv Sena has consistently maintained that the RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat should be announced as the official nominee of the NDA for the presidential election. The BJP takes Sena’s suggestion of Bhagwat’s name for Presidential election as “mischievous” with the intention to provoke the ruling party at the Centre.

The BJP chief, however, reportedly enjoys cordial relations with Thackeray. The two leaders had a separate meeting in the national capital on the day of the NDA meeting called by the Prime Minister on the last day of the Budget session of Parliament.

The BJP and Shiv Sena have been in a stormy relation since the time of the Maharashtra Assembly elections when the two parties contested the polls independently.    

Meanwhile, the BJP panel consisting of Union Ministers for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely is all set to reach out to the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday. Naidu had also held talks with the TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the issue of Presidential election. The AP chief minister has reportedly stated that his party would stand by the decision of the Prime Minister on Presidential election. The BJP leaders are also likely to reach out to the other BJP allies in the coming days, with the party panel slated to meet on Sunday.

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