Following up on his recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday held extensive parleys with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis as political circles continued to hum with the anticipation of the MNS joining the Mahayuti coalition in the State and the NDA at the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
Mr. Thackeray met with Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis at the plush Taj Lands End in suburban Bandra in Mumbai, where the three leaders had a nearly two-hour meeting. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, whose Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is the third constituent of the ruling Mahayuti coalition (the others being Mr. Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction and the BJP), was not present at the meeting.
While all three leaders continued to remain tight-lipped about the meeting, sources said the discussions centred on the number of likely seats to be given to the MNS if Mr. Thackeray’s party joined the ruling coalition.
