Mungantiwar calls on Uddhav; BJP, Sena headed for a truce?

MUMBAI: After days of name calling and wrangling with each other, there was an attempt at a truce between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday,

MUMBAI: After days of name calling and wrangling with each other, there was an attempt at a truce between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, after senior BJP leader and finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar called on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshree, to invite the latter for a government function.

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While the ostensible reason for the meeting was the government invitation for a statewide drive to plant two crore trees on Friday, July 1, the 25-minute meeting between the two went beyond formalities with the BJP holding out an olive branch and calling for a ceasefire.

Sources told HT that Mungantiwar’s visit was not impromptu and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was in the loop over the attempt to meet the Sena chief as a way of making amends.

“It was a positive meeting. It is only natural to invite our ally for the function. We want to move forward instead of trying to remove the scabs on old wounds. And having a dialogue always helps,’’ Mungantiwar told the Hindustan Times. Sources also said it had been decided to end hostilities and keep doors for dialogue and coordination ajar, ahead of the upcoming elections to Zilla Parishads and civic corporations. Thackeray and Fadnavis are now expected to meet next week ahead of the cabinet reshuffle.

Despite what Mungantiwar said, the invitation itself is important, considering the BJP earlier used protocol as an excuse to not give the Sena chief a place on the dais at government functions. At two functions earlier, Thackeray was not even invited, leading to a backlash from the Sena.

Post the meeting, Thackeray also spoke of peace, but his statement about the nature of alliance was guarded.

“Whether the alliance’s differences remain or not depends on both parties. We haven’t opposed them for the sake of opposing. There are fundamental differences, which we can’t agree with, and we will continue to voice our opposition to those,” Thackeray said, even as he praised Mungantiwar.

“After a very long time, the state has got a forest minister, who is passionate about the environment,’’ he said. The Sena chief also made light of the minister’s gift – a life-sized model of a tiger — and remarked at the need to let the ‘tiger’ (symbol associated with the Sena) grow. “We spoke about how to ensure that the tiger count increases. Tiger numbers must grow, not just in the state but across the country.”

Sena insiders said the visit did help ties. “It was nice they finally showed respect to Uddhavji. However, such a oneoff visit will not help. The government needs to realise that Uddhavji is our tallest leader and the Sena is an important partner, to involve him more often,” said a senior Sena leader, not wishing to be named.

Whether this truce can tone down bitterness between the parties, especially at the local level, remains to be seen. A section within the BJP is keen on having a clean split with the Sena ahead of the polls.

For the past two weeks, the saffron allies have been lampooning each other’s leaders, with the Sena taking hostilities a step further by holding protests and burning effigies of BJP leaders. The recent spat began with BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari writing an article in the party fortnightly Manogat, challenging the Sena to walk out and comparing Thackeray to comedian Asrani from the Bollywood blockbuster, Sholay. It was a retort to an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamna, which said the BJP government was akin to the ‘Nizam’ raj.