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Kejriwal meets Uddhav, first amid bow-arrow row; says, ‘He is sher ka beta'
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann accompanied Kejriwal as he met Uddhav Thackeray at his residence on Friday in Mumbai.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and senior AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, MP Raghav Chadha on Friday met former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshree in Mumbai. Aaditya Thackeray was also present to receive the AAP leaders. Reports said Uddhav Thackeray invited Kejriwal and the AAP leaders for tea at his residence. The meeting comes at a time when the Shiv Sena name and the bow and arrow symbol have been transferred to Eknath Shinde and in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party is embroiled in the alleged liquor scam and the snooping case.
As speculations were rife that Kejriwal and Uddhav deliberated about an election alliance, Kejriwal said, “There is only one party in India which thinks of elections 24X7. We are not that party. There are many issues in front of us like the farmers and unemployment. We will discuss the election when the election comes."
"Uddhavji's party has been stolen -- the name, the symbol everything. But I want to say only one thing his father was a sher and he is sher ka beta. I am confident that he will get justice from the Supreme Court and will sweep the coming elections as people's support is with him," Kejriwal said.
Bhagwant Mann's presence in Mumbai on a day Punjab is on the boil with the muscle flexing of radical Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh has also raised questions. A day after a massive clash between Amritpal Singh's followers and the police over the arrest of Lovepreet Toofan in an alleged kidnapping case, Toofan was released on Friday.
After months of battle for being recognised as the original Shiv Sena and to stake claim to the bow-arrow symbol, the election commission gave chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Sena both the rights. Uddhav camp has moved the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court did not order a stay on the election commission order and issued notice to the Shinde camp. Uddhav Thackeray faction told the Supreme Court that the Shinde faction could form the government in Maharashtra because of two orders of the apex court that "disturbed the co-equal and mutual balance" between judicial and legislative organs of the State.
