'Raj Thackeray meeting Amit Shah is not surprising,' says NCP Sharad Pawar faction

Raj Thackeray. File pic

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Tuesday said that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief, Raj Thackeray meeting Union Minister Amit Shah was not surprising as there already were indications that the two parties could ally.

Raj Thackeray has been under the scanner of central agencies and he has been trying to save his party, NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto claimed, reported PTI. The fortunes of Thackeray's MNS have been dwindling and the meeting Amit Shah could salvage him and protect his party, the leader of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP further claimed, the report added.

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Raj Thackeray on Tuesday along with his son, Amit Thackeray, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, amid the speculations that MNS could ally with the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Though, Raj Thackeray never said openly about the party's closeness with BJP, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been claiming lately that the two parties are in talks, but had not confirmed alliance.

However, the MNS chief meeting Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday, has given signs that MNS is most likely to join hands with the BJP-led pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections.

Raj Thackeray left for New Delhi on Monday evening to meet the BJP high command. In the national capital, Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule had already reached the party headquarters for a meeting with the core committee of Amit Shah and the party's national president JP Nadda.

In Mumbai, the MNS chief was visited recently by senior BJP leaders. MNS could be given a couple of seats to contest, including Mumbai South. MNS leader Avinash Jadhav told a news channel that in addition to Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Thane would also be discussed.

Notably, Raj Thackeray, cousin of Shiv Sene (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, in 2019 had targeted PM Modi and Amit Shah through a 'fact-check' campaign. BJP had devised a counter-campaign to check Raj who had no official candidate in the Lok Sabha fray and yet chose to hold independent rallies across the state.

However, the campaign did not have any impact as the BJP and undivided Shiv Sena alliance ended up winning 42 out of 48 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha in Maharashtra.

(With PTI inputs)