Highlights
- Meeting held at Raj Thackeray's residence 'Shivtirtha' in Mumbai
- Thackeray had written an open letter to Fadnavis, praising him for displaying party loyalty
- Meeting between the two leaders assumes significance in view of the upcoming BMC elections
Mumbai News: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai.
Fadnavis' meeting with Raj Thackeray has started another plethora of speculations after recent turmoil in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena after rebel leader Eknath Shinde along with several other MLAs toppled the MVA government and sided with the BJP.
The meeting took place at Raj Thackeray's 'Shivtirtha' residence in Dadar went on for around more than an hour.
Speculations are that BJP may offer Raj's son Amit Thackeray a cabinet berth in the state cabinet.
However, Raj Thackeray has denied any such development.
The MNS chief had last month undergone a hip replacement surgery at the Lilavati Hospital. This is Fadnavis's first visit to Thackeray after the surgery.
Thackeray praised Fadnavis
Earlier this month, Thackeray had written an open letter to Fadnavis, praising him for setting an example of party loyalty and commitment by taking over as deputy chief minister of the state despite being the frontrunner for the top post.
The meeting between the two leaders assumes significance in view of the upcoming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the pending expansion of the Maharashtra cabinet led by Eknath Shinde.
Shinde, who rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership along with the majority of party MLAs, took oath as the chief minister on June 30, a day after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray collapsed.
Fadnavis was sworn in as his deputy.
Raj Thackeray's son backed BJP in Rajya Sabha polls
The MNS, which has one MLA, had backed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last month's elections to the Rajya Sabha as well as state Legislative Council seats.
The win of the BJP in these crucial polls, which saw its candidates getting more votes than it has, had come just before the rebellion in the Shiv Sena that led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.
(With inputs from PTI)
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