Even as the Maha Vikas Aghadi is fighting its demons, thanks to the Nationalist Congress Party’s visible soft corner for the ruling party, and the Veer Savarkar jibe row that involved the top Congress leadership, there was speculation on Friday that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would soon meet the Maharashtra ex-CM. The meeting would most probably be at Uddhav Thackeray's Mumbai residence, Matoshree, and the Congress leader would actively involve him in the process of opposition unity the Sena (UBT) had stayed away from, as a mark of protest in the Savarkar issue.

The Congress neither denied nor confirmed the plan, saying Gandhji’s Mumbai and Maharashtra visits had not been finalised yet. However, Sena (UBT) MP, Sanjay Raut said he had invited Gandhi and his mother Sonia to Mumbai. He said the Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal was slated to meet the ex-CM on the coming Monday, after which a Gandhi-Thackeray meeting could be a strong possibility. “Gandhi has been meeting leaders across opposition parties. The dialogue is good for the opposition’s unity for the 2024 polls,” he said, adding that Thackeray and Sharad Pawar too have met recently.