According to Congress insiders, Uddhav Thackeray contacted Congress president Sonia Gandhi on phone to express his appreciation for Congress’ formal backing of Shiv Sena in the Andheri East by-election.
Thackeray thanked her for the grand old party’s support for the by-election, which had assumed more relevance in light of the continuing political conflict inside the Shiv Sena. However, the Shiv Sena provided confirmation of the development.
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When Mumbai Chief Bhai Jagtap, President of the Maharashtra Congress Nana Patole, and other senior party figures visited with Thackeray at his Bandra home to formally offer support for the November 3 by-election, Thackeray decided to respond to the support. According to a member of the group from the Congress, the telephone call occurred while they were visiting Thackeray’s home.
Senior Congressman Balasaheb Thorat said, “We work together as MVA. Not only did Sonia Gandhi opt to back the Shiv Sena, but she also expressed her well wishes to Uddhav Ji. Bypoll results will reflect how dissatisfied people are with the Shinde-Fadnavis administration,”
“Shiv Sena had backed us in the Nanded and Kolhapur assembly by-elections for the Deglur assembly constituency, so it was pretty clear that Congress would back them as well. Against these dividing factors, the MVA is unified, Jagtap declared.
Congress and the NCP both endorsed Shiv Sena for the byelection. It has evolved into a prestige conflict between CM Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the one side, and Thackeray and his MVA allies on the other. Now, as the political scenario is twisting again, there emerges another stiff rivalry between both the groups.
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Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founder of the Samajwadi Party and a three-term chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, passed away on Tuesday. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav received a call from Uddhav Thackeray on that same day to express his condolences.
