Rudy to meet Uddhav to soothe frayed nerves in Sena

“The meeting with Raj Thackeray was not taken in good taste and has strained ties with Shiv Sena, which is an old partner of the party in Maharashtra.

There is no question of a tie-up with any other partner in the state as BJP values its alliance with Shiv Sena.The attempt of sending an emissary is to placate the Shiv Sena and fine tune the alliance,” a senior BJP leader told PTI.

Ties between the two old allies were strained recently after Gadkari met Raj Thackeray to seek his support for BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and not to put up his party's candidates against the BJP in the state.  

Following the meeting Raj Thackeray announced his backing for Modi, saying his party MPs will support Modi for the PM post post-elections.

Post Raj-Gadkari meeting, it was believed that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav was upset over its ally's overtures to the MNS, a political rival of the Shiv Sena in the state.