Two days after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's remarks on how the two Shiv Senas should join hands, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday shared a light moment in the state assembly today with his public invitation to Uddhav Thackeray to join the ruling party.
CM Fadnavis, while speaking during the farewell ceremony of Ambadas Danve, Leader of Opposition and a member of Shiv Sena (UBT), said, "Look Uddhav-ji, there is no scope of (our) going there (in the opposition) till 2029... But if you want to come over here, then consider it... it depends on you... it can be considered."
The pointed remarks came against the speculations of a possible tie-up between Uddhav’s Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the civic body elections in Mumbai.
On July 5, for first time in the last two decades, the Thackeray brothers appeared on the same political stage, overcoming their differences for the cause of 'Marathi Manoos' and spoke on the alleged 'imposition' of Hindi language by the Bharatiya Janata Party at Centre.
However, Raj Thackeray's MNS, which supported the BJP in past elections, is yet to make its intentions clear.
In April, Raj Thackeray sparked speculation about a potential political rapprochement with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray, noting their past differences were 'trivial' and uniting for the greater good of “Marathi manoos" (Marathi people) is not a difficult task.
The buzz strengthened when Uddhav said he was ready to put aside trivial fights provided that those working against Maharashtra’s interests will not be entertained.