MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday met at a suburban resort where the NCP legislators have been been staying.
The Sena chief was joined by senior party leaders and son Aaditya Thackeray, who won the last month's Maharashtra Assembly polls from Worli seat in Mumbai, during his discussion with Pawar, sources said.
The Sena was helping the NCP and Congress to keep their flock together, they said.
The Shiv Sena's trade unions have a robust presence in several of the city's top hotels.
The NCP legislators moved to the Renaissance hotel in Powai area late Saturday night after they attended a party meeting at the Y B Chavan Centre in south Mumbai.
The three parties were in the last stages of talks to form government when, in a dramatic turn of events in the early hours of Saturday, NCP leader Ajit Pawar broke away from his party and joined hands with the BJP.
BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was then sworn is as the chief minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, NCP's MLA Manikrao Kokate (from Sinnar), who was present when Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in at the Raj Bhawan, returned to the suburban hotel around the same time when Sharad Pawar arrived there on Sunday.
In an unprecedented confidence-building measure, the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress are conducting 'cross-meetings' with the legislators of their parties in the proposed 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' here on Sunday.
The joint meetings would also reassure the legislators of the three partners that their respective leaders are on the same page and would continue in the same vein in the near future, particularly since the three parties have decided to tackle the crisis on the legal and political fronts.
Sending out such a message would be important as the three parties will be required to work in complete unison and coordination during crucial legislative formalities like the Speaker's election and the floor test in the Assembly where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar shall be called upon to prove their majority, the Sena source said.
(With ANI inputs)