Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday, in his first visit to the national capital after taking over the rein of the state. Thackeray is also expected to meet Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP veteran L.K. Advani.
The chief minister's son Aditya Thackeray, who is a minister in his cabinet, also accompanied him.
Thackeray's meeting with Modi comes amid the strain relation between the Shiv Sena and its ruling partners—the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. The Sena's stand over a host of issues, including the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Population Register, has been at variance with that of the coalition partners.
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While the Congress and the NCP strongly opposed the CAA and the NPR, Thackeray has extended his support to both the exercises.
The Sena and the NCP were not on the same page in the Elgar Parishad case, too.
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday sought to play down Thackeray's meeting with Modi.
"Yes, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. This is only a meeting, nothing else should be read into it. Jai Maharashtra," he tweeted.
The BJP and the Sena had a bitter fallout post assembly polls in Maharashtra last year over the chief minister's post. The Sena later aligned with the Congress and the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state.
