Maharashtra logjam: Prominent industrialist offers to broker BJP-Shiv Sena deal, says source

The industrialist is understood to have urged Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to either talk to or meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to sort out the differences.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray (File Photo | PTI)
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray (File Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI: A prominent Mumbai-based industrialist and a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA close to him are understood to be trying to broker peace between the BJP and its estranged former ally, the Shiv Sena, a prominent political figure close to the development said on Tuesday.

The industrialist is understood to have urged Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to either talk to or meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to sort out the differences between the two saffron parties.

The BJP MLA, who joined the party only recently, has had a longstanding relationship with the industrialist and both are keen that the Sena and the BJP bury the hatchet.

Although the former allies have drifted miles away, the feeling is that the Sena could be open to reviving ties with the BJP after failing to get the support of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to form the government, the politician said.

He said this is not the first time that the BJP and Sena have confronted each other over government formation or over seat-sharing before elections.

But, unlike previous occasions when the Sena was provided an escape route to climb down from its stand, this time no such passage was offered to go back on its “unrealistic demands.”

This led to the escalation and finally a breaking point.

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