Raj-Uddhav lunch feeds alliance speculation

MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray for a one-on-one discussion over lunch at Matoshree on Friday. The cousin conclave, which lasted nearly an hour, assumes significance in view of the upcoming BMC elections, the growing BJP-Sena rift and the escalating pressure on Matoshree from Sena legislators to quit the Devendra Fadnavis government, said analysts.
Speculation was rife in political circles that the Sena may, in an attempt to clip the BJP’s wings, opt for the MNS as its ally for the BMC polls.Winning the country’s richest municipal corporation, with an annual budget of Rs 36,000 crore, is crucial to the Sena’s plan to grow in Maharashtra minus the BJP, analysts added.
However, a section in Sena was of the view that Raj may have met Uddhav in connection with the ongoing crisis in the Thackeray clan over Jaydev Thackeray’s case contesting the late Balasaheb’s will. Jaydev is Uddhav’s elder brother.
Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar, who accompanied Raj to Matoshree, reportedly told mediapersons that Uddhav and Raj met as “two key leaders of Maharashtra”, thus underlining the political overtones of the meeting. "Both Uddhavji and Rajsaheb are cousins, but they are major political figures in Maharashtra too,” he said. Raj last visited Matoshree after Balasaheb’s death in November 2012, sources said.
“I am not aware of what happened (at the meeting). They were closeted in a separate room,” Nandgonkar added and declined to take any more questions. There was no official statement from either Uddhav or Raj on the meeting.
“Nandgaonkar's statement is a loaded one. There is no ambiguity that he has spoken at the behest of the MNS president, making it clear that Uddhav and Raj deliberated on political matters. This is crucial to our alliance with the Sena as Matoshree has been hemming and hawing on whether or not to go with our party for the BMC elections,” a senior Mumbai BJP functionary told TOI.
Pointing out that winning the BMC election was high on the Sena’s agenda, the BJP functionary said, “Uddhav Thackeray is keen on cutting our party to size in Mumbai. He thinks he can do this by befriending the MNS.”
Regarding talk of Balasaheb’s will, not many were willing to buy the argument that Uddhav and Raj met in this connection. “It is unlikely that Uddhavji may rope in Rajsaheb as a witness to dispute Jaydev’s testimony on Balasaheb’s will,” said a Sena source.
Matoshree is set to refute Jaydev’s charges against Uddhav on the will’s validity in court, it is learnt. “We will turn the tables on Jaydev by producing strong witnesses to nail his lie. However, there are no plans to request Rajsaheb to appear in support of Uddhavsaheb,” said a Sena functionary.
Raj, too, has up until now maintained a studied silence on the will row, thus indicating that he would like to keep his distance on this issue. “Rajsaheb and his family are not even remotely connected with the case,” said sources close to the MNS chief.
A city Mumbai BJP leader also refuted the will angle. "There was no need for Raj Thackeray to drive down to Matoshree to deliberate, as is being claimed unofficially, on Balasaheb's will and the court case. Such matters can be discussed through family relatives, who have access to both Uddhav and Raj, or through lawyers," he argued.