Uddhav Thackeray meets Sharad Pawar amid discord in MVA over local polls

Mumbai, Jan 20 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Monday amid differences among the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi combine over contesting the ensuing local body polls in Maharashtra.

Thackeray drove to the former Union minister’s residence at Silver Oak in south Mumbai and met him for over an hour, party sources said.

Pawar, the architect of the opposition coalition, has stepped in to calm the turbulence within the MVA and recently said he would convene a meeting of the combine’s three constituents to discuss contesting the upcoming local body elections.

Shiv Sena (UBT) has declared it will contest the local body elections alone.

Pawar recently pointed out that the mandate of the INDIA alliance at the centre and the MVA in Maharashtra is to contest elections together at the national and state level, respectively, not at the local level.

“We have never discussed or suggested contesting together at the local self-government level,” Pawar had said.

The political allies traditionally contest local elections independently but the Sena (UBT)’s decision has triggered speculation about the viability of the MVA, comprising the Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress.