Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray met on Tuesday with his ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s Mumbai residence.
The meeting comes a day before the first meeting of the coordination committee of the Opposition INDIA bloc, which is to be held at Mr. Pawar’s Delhi residence on Wednesday.
Mr. Thackeray was accompanied by his aide, Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut during the 90-minute meeting with Mr. Pawar at the latter’s ‘Silver Oak’ residence.
Among the issues discussed were coordination within INDIA bloc as well as coordination issues between the three Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies in Maharashtra– the Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP, said senior NCP leader Jayant Patil after the meeting.
Mr. Patil said there was no discussion on seat-sharing at the meeting nor was any formula decided. However a meeting of the three MVA parties would be held soon to iron out seat-sharing arrangements.
Coordination within bloc
“In anticipation of the coordination committee meeting of the INDIA bloc in Delhi, Mr. Thackeray called upon Mr. Pawar. They spoke about current issues, and coordination within INDIA bloc parties and coordination between the MVA parties in the State,” he said.
“There was no discussion on seat-sharing today. But at the INDIA meet in Mumbai earlier this month, it was decided that the seat-sharing formula between the opposition allies would be decided by the end of this month. I expect that there will be a joint meeting between our party and the Congress and Sena (UBT) in the coming days,” Mr. Patil said.
He did not foresee any serious problems during the seat-sharing talks.
“I am confident that the discussions will proceed smoothly. We will appoint three leaders from each of the three parties who will be part of the coordination committee to decide on seat-sharing among MVA partners in Maharashtra,” said the NCP leader.
