'What's problem if they were in one room': Sanjay Raut refutes reports of meeting between Fadnavis, Aaditya
Several media reports on Saturday claimed that Fadnavis and the junior Thackeray held a secret meeting at the Sofitel Hotel in Mumbai, fueling speculations in Maharashtra politics. According to sources, the two leaders were present at the hotel for nearly three hours.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday refuted reports of a meeting between party leader Aaditya Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, wondering what problem anyone could have if the two leaders were present in "one room".
"What problem do you (the media) have if they are in one room? One is CM and the other is a leader from the opposition. But nothing of the sort (meeting) happened," he said, as reported by news agency PTI.
Several media reports on Saturday claimed that Fadnavis and the junior Thackeray held a secret meeting at the Sofitel Hotel in Mumbai, fueling speculations in Maharashtra politics. According to sources, the two leaders were present at the hotel for nearly three hours.
However, Fadnavis' refuted such reports and said that the Chief Minister was present there for an event, while the Worli MLA was there with some friends.
Fadnavis met Uddhav earlier this week
Notably, this comes days after Fadnavis met Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray in the chamber of legislative council chairperson Ram Shinde. Aaditya was also present in the meeting, which lasted for nearly 30 minutes.
The meeting between Fadnavis and Uddhav had once again led to speculations of a possible reconciliation between the two former allies. However, Aaditya later clarified that his father and Fadnavis met to discuss issues regarding the Marathi language.
"We put our view on why Hindi should not be imposed as the third language from Class I. We gave a collection of articles written by experts and non-political persons," said Aaditya, as reported by PTI.
Fadnavis offers Uddhav to join hands
Earlier this week, Fadnavis had told Uddhav to rejoin the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The Maharashtra Chief Minister had made his offer while speaking during the farewell of outgoing Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve.
Fadnavis and Uddhav were formal allies until 2019, when the latter left the NDA and joined hands with Congress and the undivided NCP to form the government in Maharashtra. However, he was forced to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister following a revolt by Eknath Shinde, which ultimately led to a division of the Shiv Sena.
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