BJP President Amit Shah, putting aside all speculations of a dispute in the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, will meet Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray at his residence late evening on Thursday.

Shah, who is on his first visit to Mumbai after assuming the position of party president, told party workers at the Mumbai airport that the alliance with Shiv Sena is rock solid.

BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said the Uddhav had invited Shah on Wednesday and the latter had accepted the invitation.

There has been considerable speculation about souring relations between the two parties, particularly over seat-sharing, and its likely impact on the forthcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Call to launch campaign

That Shah’s original itinerary did not include a meeting with Uddhav only served to fuel the rumours. Instead, he had chosen to hold programmes with senior BJP leaders including Pankaja Munde.

Tawde, obviously in damage control mode, said leaders from both parties are in touch with each other. Shah appealed to party workers at the airport to begin their campaign to free States from Congress rule. He described the upcoming Assembly elections as the second phase of the BJP’s campaign for a Congress-free India.

Later, he reached out to the Shiv Sena and called Maharashtra a land that not only produced Chhatrapati Shivaji and BR Ambedkar but also Balasaheb Thackeray.

Addressing BJP party workers, he said party workers should not be worried about seat-sharing. Such decisions would be taken by senior party leaders, he said, adding that workers should only be committed to work for the party during elections.

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Published on September 4, 2014