The Sena, however, remained non-committal on whether it would withdraw from the BJP-led state, Central governments once its ‘notice period’ to the estranged ally ends.
Reaching out to the influential Gujarati community ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday managed to rope in BJP’s bête noire and Patildar leader Hardik Patel. Sena sources claimed that Patel, who has taken on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state, may be among the party’s leading faces in case it decides to contests the Gujarat Assembly elections later this year.
The Sena, however, remained non-committal on whether it would withdraw from the BJP-led state, Central governments once its ‘notice period’ to the estranged ally ends.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, BJP leader and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “I’m happy to see the kind of people one meets when losing sand from beneath his/her feet.”
Earlier, Hardik Patel met Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence of Matoshree in Bandra East on Tuesday noon. Draped in a saffron shawl, Patel, who was accompanied by Uddhav, referred to the Shiv Sena and Thackeray as “friends” and said he had paid respects to late party chief Bal Thackeray.
Though Hardik indicated that he would not campaign for the Shiv Sena in Mumbai, Sena sources admit that his public appearance with Uddhav is pregnant with political meaning considering the party’s outreach to the Gujaratis, of which the Patildars form a sizeable number.
“A tiger never flaunts its stripes...I do not think they need any help as they have the tradition of helping others only,” said Patel, when asked about if he would “help” Shiv Sena win BMC elections. “I am here for blessings. I am a 23-year old boy and am still learning,” he said.
“We are here to fight for the welfare of the community. We are fighting against the BJP as it killed our young children. I am fighting two sedition charges in Gujarat,” said Patel.
Uddhav said that Sena, beginning with Goa and UP, is foraying into other states, a step they avoided earlier to prevent a split in Hindu votes. “If the people in Gujarat want, we will fight from there too. Hardik will surely be one of our main faces then,” he said.
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