NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi amid speculations of trouble within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra after NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar recently felicitated Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Thackeray, the former Maharashtra minister, is also likely to meet AAP national convenor and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal later in the day, sources said.
Sources said Gandhi and Thackeray have reportedly discussed the issues in the MVA alliance and the allegations of irregularities in the conduct of Maharashtra Assembly elections by the Election Commission.
“Aaditya ji has met Rahul Gandhi and is meeting Arvind Kejriwal. Following this, he will meet Shiv Sena MPs. The meetings are courtesy visits being made to friends. As far as the issue of Pawar saheb felicitating Eknath Shinde ji is concerned, we have already issued a statement in this regard,” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant told The Indian Express.
During an event in Delhi, NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar presented Shinde with the Mahadji Shinde Rashtriya Gaurav Award on Tuesday “for his decisive leadership”. The event was held in the backdrop of the two-day All-India Marathi Literature Conference, scheduled in Delhi from February 21. A day later, the Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray slammed the NCP (SP) chief — the first such move since the two parties joined hands with the Congress party to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in 2019.
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson, told The Indian Express, that Pawar has let their party down. “We never imagined he (Sharad Pawar) would go to this extent. He has felicitated a ‘traitor’ who tried to destroy Maharashtra. How can Pawar Saheb felicitate such a betrayer who brought the MVA government down and wreaked a party that fought for the self-respect and pride of Maharashtra and Marathi Manoos?” Raut asked.
“Felicitating Shinde is like felicitating Home Minister Amit Shah. Both joined hands to destroy the party set up by Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. And such a man is being felicitated. I think the Maharashtra and the Marathi Manoos have been grossly insulted,” said Raut.
At the event, in a subtle message to the BJP, Pawar generously praised Shinde’s leadership in Maharashtra from 2022 to 2024, saying, “Shinde has a good understanding of urban issues and has done good work in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.”
The bonhomie has not gone down well with the Shiv Sena (UBT), which had often publicly admonished Shinde for engineering the split in the party and dislodging the MVA government in the state in 2022.
Agencies