Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar meets BJP leader Ashish Shelar

Sharad Pawar/File pic

NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Mumbai BJP supremo Ashish Shelar on Tuesday evening had a meeting at the latter's residence in suburban Bandra. As per reports, both leaders talked for nearly an hour. The meeting comes days after chief Amit Shah's rally in the city.

However, what transpired in the meeting could not be known. When contacted, an NCP leader said no political inference should be drawn from the development. "Both (Shelar and Pawar) are associated with the Mumbai Cricket Association. They might have met in that context," he said.

Shelar became president of the MCA after Pawar stepped down in view of the Lodha Committee recommendations. Addressing a rally here on April 6, Shah equated the opposition parties trying to take on the BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls to 'snakes', 'mongoose', 'dogs' and 'cats'.

However, Shah later clarified that his intention was not to equate Opposition parties to animals. Amid the Opposition parties' efforts to pose a joint challenge to the BJP in upcoming polls, a senior NCP leader had said that Pawar would play an important role at the national level.

Addressing a press conference here on April 6, the BJP chief said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi was hobnobbing
with Pawar of late.

"I was listening to Rahul Baba (Rahul Gandhi). He sits with Pawar sahab nowadays. Pawar sahab has given him some "injection"," Shah had said.

The perceived proximity of the NCP with the BJP has been a topic of speculations in political circles.

(With Inputs from Agencies)

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