Shah meets Uddhav as Sena questions outreach

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Wednesday met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai for a meeting which is seen with much significance since the two allies have been bickering for quite some time.

Shah, accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, met Thackeray at the latter's residence Matoshree.

The BJP has said the meeting is in connection with its Sampark for Samarthan (contact for support) campaign being led by Shah in the run up to next year's Lok Sabha polls.

Party sources said on Wednesday that the meeting between Shah and Thackeray at 'Matoshree' 'was positive'.

"This is the beginning of reducing tensions between both the parties. Two-three meetings are expected to happen in the coming days," BJP Sources told ANI.

However, the meeting is being seen with much significance as the BJP and the Shiv Sena have been bickering despite being allies at the central and state level.

The two allies contested the May 28 by-polls to Palghar Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra separately and engaged in a bitter campaign against each other.

The Shiv Sena has particularly been upset with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has repeatedly attacked him.

After facing defeat in the Palghar bypolls at the hands of the BJP, the Shiv Sena labelled the ally party as its 'biggest political enemy'.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna on Wednesday, Shiv Sena questioned the BJP's outreach programme after suffering defeat in by-polls in various states.

The editorial maintained that the Sena will fight all the upcoming elections alone.

'The prime minister is touring the world and BJP chief Amit Shah is going around the country as part of their 'sampark' programme. Shah will be meeting NDA (National Democratic Alliance) allies. However, what exactly will he do? Why is he meeting at this juncture when the BJP has suffered defeat in by-polls,' the Sena asked in the editorial. 

Earlier in the day, Shah met industrialist Ratan Tata in Mumbai as part of the campaign.

Fadnavis, BJP state unit chief Raosaheb Danve and other party leaders were also present at the meet held at Tata's residence in South Mumbai.

During the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, Shah discussed the achievements and initiatives of the Modi government in the last four years.

However, Shah's scheduled meeting with melody queen Lata Mangeshkar was cancelled as she was down with food poisoning.

Mangeshkar tweeted in Hindi that she had spoken to Shah over telephone and expressed her inability to meet him since she had suffered food poisoning. She also requested that they can meet during his next visit to Mumbai.

'Aaj BJP ki adhyaksha mananeey @AmitShah ji se meri mulaqaat honewali thi parantu mujhe food poisoning hone ki wajah se maine unse telephone pe baat karke milne mein asamarthta vyakt ki aur agli baar jab bhi wo Mumbai aayenge tab unse milne ka nivedan kiya (sic),' the 88-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee tweeted.

Shah also called on actress Madhuri Dixit in Mumbai on Wednesday and briefed her about the achievements of the Narendra Modi government.

As part of the mega public drive, 4,000 BJP functionaries will contact one lakh people, who are well-known in their respective fields, to spread the word about the NDA government's programme and policies launched since 2014.

Shah will meet 50 people as part of the campaign, the party had said.

He will meet Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and two sports legends in Chandigarh on Thursday as part of the initiative.

With ANI inputs