Shiv Sena attends Opposition meet called by Congress chief

Mumbai: For the first time after it parted ways with its former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena on Friday attended a meeting with leaders of national

Mumbai: For the first time after it parted ways with its former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena on Friday attended a meeting with leaders of national Opposition party, called by the interim president of Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, through video-conferencing. Sena was represented by party chief and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in what is considered to be a significant development for the party.

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A Sena functionary said that Thackeray maintained a balance, as neither slammed the Centre nor did he speak in favour of the Opposition parties. According to a senior Shiv Sena leader, the CM spoke about the state government’s plan to tackle Covid-19 and also took up the migrants’ issue.

“Uddhav ji spoke on the measures taken by the Maharashtra government to control the spread of coronavirus. He also spoke about the issue of migrants and the inconvenience they faced with regards to transportation. Apart from this, he also spoke on retrieving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund,” the leader, who did not wish to be named, said.

After presenting his points, Thackeray later excused himself citing prior engagements.

Earlier in January, the Sena had skipped the all-party meet called by Gandhi over the political situation in the country in the wake of the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Party leaders later clarified that it was due to a “miscommunication”. Two days later, Thackeray’s son Aaditya, who is now a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government, met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, which was later termed as a “courtesy” meet.

Meanwhile Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who had also participated in Friday’s meeting from Mumbai, also said that the Opposition parties are of the view that this is not the time for showing one-upmanship or indulging in politics for personal political gain. This is the time for a collective endeavour to bring India out of this crisis and that’s what the people of India need and demand for, the NCP supremo said.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties have decided to appeal to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to engage with all political parties, Pawar said.

“We have decided to appeal to the @PMOIndia to immediately reach out to, and engage in a dialogue with all political parties in a systematic manner, listen seriously to the suggestions that we have to refrain from using the crisis for personal political gain, activate Parliamentary institutions like standing committees and be genuine in helping the states financially and otherwise,” Pawar said in a series of tweets.

“The like-minded political parties are collectively going to raise a 10-point demand to the central government to implement immediately,” Pawar added.

The veteran leader also made a few suggestions in the meeting. He said that the state governments are relaxing the conditions of lockdown but factories are not in a position to resume work as workers have migrated to their respective villages.

“We need to strategize to bring them [migrant labourers] back. New policies to encourage industrial growth should be incorporated to attract new investment in the states, increase imports, exports and inland shipping, and consultations should be held with industrialists, entrepreneurs and experts,” the veteran leader said.

The former Union minister further suggested that right steps need to be taken to gradually restore road transport within the states and for the resumption of air and rail services.