Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 17: Eyebrows were raised over the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting the Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis only a day after the former was “invited” to join the “Mahayuti” government in the state, but the meeting turned out to be an innocuous one, largely to discuss the appointment of the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.
The “invitation” to Mr Thackeray was issued by Mr Fadnavis on Wednesday during the farewell of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC and Leader of Opposition, Ambadas Danve, whose term ends in August. Mr Fadnavis made the “you have the scope to come here” sort of open offer to Mr Thackeray to join the Mahayuti, which, however, the former chief minister dismissed as a “joke.”
But a day after Mr Thackeray accompanied by his son and Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray met Mr Fadnavis on Thursday in the ante-chamber of Vidhan Parishad Chairman Ram Shinde at Vidhan Bhavan.
The meeting had assumed significance because the allies-turned-adversaries Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis were meeting after months and coming close on the heels of Mr Fadnavis “invitation” to his erstwhile ministerial colleague to return to the three-party alliance.
“Uddhavji, now we don’t have to do anything till 2029. We have no scope left to come there (to opposition benches), but you have the scope to come here (to treasury benches). We can think about it differently. We will talk differently,” Mr Fadnavis had told Mr Thackeray at the Danve farewell. Mr Thackeray had dismissed Mr Fadnavis talk saying “everything need not be taken seriously.”
Mr Thackeray’s move to change the Maharashtra political scenario as his affirmative response to Mr Fadnavis would mean breaking the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance which resting on a weak foundation with huge ideological differences among the alliance partners and further strengthen the Mahayuti even if it could lead to the ouster of one of the three alliance partners.
The ostensible reason of the Thursday’s meeting, which lasted for about 20 minutes, was a discussion about the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly. Sources said Mr Thackeray had demanded that the Speaker allow the post of the Leader of Opposition, for which the name of Bhaskar Jadhav was recommended in the last session. This is the second session of the assembly since the formation of Mahayuti government.
Mr Jadhav has the consensus of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi but the Speaker, Rahul Narvekar, has not taken any decision in this regard. The Chief Minister, sources said, had responded that allowing a Leader of the Opposition is the sole prerogative of the Speaker.
Sources said the meeting also discussed the three language policy and Mr Thackeray gifted a book Mr Fadnavis titled ‘Hindichi Sakti Havich Kashala?’ (What is the need of making Hindi mandatory?), a compilation of articles written by several editors in Maharashtra.
Mr Fadnavis accepted the book, but suggested that Mr Thackeray submit a copy to Narendra Jadhav, the head of the committee formed to review three language policy decision. The alleged imposition of Hindi in schools in the state had recently created a stir in the state with the two estranged cousin brothers, Uddhav and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray coming on one platform after over two decades opposing making Hindi compulsory in the Maharashtra schools. The decision was quickly rescinded by the chief minister after the Sena-MNS agitation threatened to assume serious proportion.