Amid a fast-changing political situation in Maharashtra, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said that BJP and its former ally Shiv Sena were "not enemies" but admitted to differences cropping up among the two allies one-and-a-half-years ago.
After the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray parted ways with BJP to join hands with Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Congress to form and head the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
"Our friend (Shiv Sena) contested the 2019 (Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha) polls with us... After the Vidhan Sabha polls, they joined hands with those (NCP and Congress) we contested the elections against," said Fadnavis, a former chief minister.
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It may be recalled, Thackeray took over as chief minister on November 28, 2019. When specifically asked whether his last week's meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah was an indication of the possibility of Shiv Sena and BJP coming together, he said: "...there are no ifs and buts in politics... decisions are taken on prevailing situation."
It may be mentioned, last month senior Shiv Sena leader and three-time MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who is facing an ED probe, wrote to Thackeray to reconcile with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP as the party was "suffering".
Reacting to this, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil had then said: "Sarnaik has written a letter to Thackeray...he would decide on it....then our leaders will decide." Fadnavis's statement comes at a time when the Centre has mounted pressure on the MVA government with senior leaders like former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh facing probe by ED and CBI.
Pawar's nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar too faced problems when a mill in Satara linked to him and his family was attached by ED. Congress too seems to be unhappy and have decided to go alone in future local bodies, Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha polls - for which Thackeray publicly spoke out against its state leaders.
Over last week, Pawar and Thackeray met individually and with senior leaders. On Saturday, in a surprise meeting, Thackeray's troubleshooter Sanjay Raut met BJP's Ashish Shelar. "The more you spread rumours, the stornger we would emerge," Raut had said.
The MVA partners - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress - has been alleging that the Centre and BJP was misusing central agencies to destabilise the alliance government. The MVA had also run-ins with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.