Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday met Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh’s chief Mohan Bhagwat at right wing organisation headquarters in Nagpur. The meeting lasted for about 45-minutes. The development has come after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) poor performance during Lok Sabha elections in the state.
According to reports, Devendra Fadnavis reached Nagpur from Mumbai and directly went to RSS headquarters. Both Fadnavis and Mohan Bhagwat met for nearly an hour. More details of the meeting are awaited.
A few days ago, an accidental encounter between Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in a lift in Vidhan Bhawan caused ripples in state political circles.
On the first day of the state legislature monsoon session, Fadnavis and Thackeray found themselves waiting for the lift together.
A viral video shows the two leaders exchanging some words.
Asked about the conversation later, Thackeray said, “People must have thought of the song, ‘na na karte pyar tumhi se kar baithe’ (I fell in love with you despite denials). But no such thing will happen”.
Lifts don’t have ears so it is a good suggestion to have more such meetings in lifts, Thackeray added on a lighter note, while speaking to reporters. Thackeray said nothing else was to be inferred from the lift encounter as it was an “unexpected meeting”.
BJP legislator Pravin Darekar, who was also in the lift said, “When the lift doors opened, Fadnavis walked towards the side of the ruling party offices and Uddhav ji walked to the opposition party offices. This means he has no intention of joining the ruling benches.”
Senior BJP minister Chandrakant Patil also met Thackeray in the office of the Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Ambadas Danve.
Patil presented Thackeray a bouquet and a milk chocolate.
“You will give another chocolate to the people tomorrow,” Thackeray quipped, in an apparent reference to sops being part of the state budget to be tabled on Friday.
This is the last legislature session before the state assembly polls due in four months. There are reports that the Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP is planning to present a ‘please all’ budget’ ahead of the assembly polls.
There is speculation that after the debacle of Mahayuti alliance in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, is set to table a populist budget.
Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the ruling alliance won 17, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi combine of Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged 30.
With inputs from PTI
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