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Maharashtra polls: Amit Shah meets Uddhav Thackeray over dinner at Matoshree

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Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah met with Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday night, on an invitation of the Shiv Sena chief. The meeting began at about 9.30pm at Thackeray's Matoshree residence and continued till late.

Shah met with party workers through the day and discussions centered on plans for the forthcoming assembly elections. He also presided over a function to welcome some senior leaders of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to the BJP.

During the day, the BJP president even visited the memorial to late Bal Thackeray at Shivaji Park. But his itinerary did not list a meeting with Uddhav Thackeray which strengthened speculation about a widening rift between the alliance partners in the state have been strained over seat-sharing in the assembly elections due next month.

Till, Vinod Tawde, the BJP's leader of the opposition in the legislative council, announced in the afternoon that Uddhav had invited Shah to his residence on Thursday night. In the past, most senior BJP leaders visiting Mumbai had always called on Bal Thackeray. Some reports even suggested that Shah not meeting Uddhav was a snub to the BJP's oldest ally.

During the day, addressing a convention of party workers, Shah made it a point to name Bal Thackeray among the pantheon of icons from Maharashtra like Mahatma Phule and Sant Tukaram. In an apparent attempt to surmount the tensions in the saffron alliance, he also appealed to party workers to strive towards victory without bothering about issues like seat sharing.

Bal Thackeray passed away in 2012 and after the sweep by the saffron alliance in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the BJP has staked its claim to contest a larger number of seats in the assembly polls, possibly even the chief minister's chair if the alliance comes to power. This has not gone down well with the Shiv Sena leadership.

In 2009, the Shiv Sena contested 169 seats and the BJP 119. The Sena won 45 (including an independent) and the BJP 46.

This time, the two big partners must also accommodate other allies like the Republican Party (Athavale), Swabhimaani Paksha, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Shivasangram.

The NCP leaders who joined the BJP on Thursday were Babanrao Pachpute, former minister and six times member of parliament, Dr Madhav Kinhalkar, the brother-in-law of former state chief minister Ashok Chavan, and former union minister Suryakanta Patil. Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar of the Congress who has been an MP for three terms also joined the party on Thursday.

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