{"id":355033,"date":"2025-07-18T00:22:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T05:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=355033"},"modified":"2025-07-18T00:22:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T05:52:19","slug":"friends-turned-foes-uddhav-fadnavis-meet-set-off-speculations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/friends-turned-foes-uddhav-fadnavis-meet-set-off-speculations\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends-turned-foes Uddhav, Fadnavis\u00a0meet, set off speculations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Local bodies and Marathi compulsions or is Fadnavis trying to \u201ccut down to size\u201d\u00a0his deputy Eknath Shinde<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Thursday meeting between friends-turned-foes Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has generated a lot of speculation and buzz in the corridors of Maharashtra politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The given reason was that it was about the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly.  However, coming a day after Fadnavis’\u2019s \u201cjoin us\u201d comment, which Uddhav Thackeray dismissed as a \u201cjoke\u201d it created a whole lot of buzz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 20-minute meeting was in the ante-chamber of Vidhan Parishad Chairman Ram Shinde at Vidhan Bhavan. According to reports, Uddhav demanded that the Speaker should allow the post of the Leader of Opposition, for which the name of Bhaskar Jadhav was recommended in the last session. Jadhav has the consensus of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi but Speaker Rahul Narvekar has not taken any decision in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fadnavis angle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MNS supremo Raj Thackeray and estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT) recently reunited after 20 years at a public rally in Worli, Mumbai, for an event called \u2018Awaj Marathicha\u2019\u2014the Voice of the Marathi. Politics is all about optics, in those terms the rally was a success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are various theories over who scripted the reunion, of which one is that CM Fadnavis arranged it to \u201ccut down to size Shinde\u201d. Leaders from the ruling Mahayuti and opposition Congress-NCP(SP) also pointed to closed-door meetings between Fadnavis and Raj to buttress that claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then on Wednesday, Fadnavis\u2019s offer to Uddhav at an official ceremony, inviting him to join the ruling side was another incident that added fuel to the fire. The remark came during the farewell ceremony of Ambadas Danve, the Leader of Opposition and a member of Thackeray’s faction of the Shiv Sena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook Uddhav-ji, there is no scope of (our) going there (in the opposition) till 2029 But if you want to come over here, then consider it\u2026it depends on you it can be considered,\u201d he said amid peals of laughter from his side<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet it go. Some things should be taken on a lighter note,\u201d said Uddhav when reporters asked his comments on Fadnavis\u2019s offer. Adding to the already growing buzz is a video of Fadnavis and Thackeray greeting each other cordially ahead of the session, with both leaders shaking hands and exchanging smiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutting Shinde to size<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling NDA comprises the BJP and two breakaway factions\u2014Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar\u2019s NCP\u2014who walked away with the name and symbols of their respective parties after bringing down the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Agahadi government<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the BMC elections, Marathi language has become a big issue, so much so that Maharashtra transport minister Pratap Sarnaik had to criticise his own government over the denial of permission for a Marathi rally on Mira Road and joined the protest. It is another matter that Sarnaik was forcefully driven away by the agitated Thackeray loyalists, calling him a \u201ctraitor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was jointly organised by Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS to mark the withdrawal of government resolutions related to the three-language policy in primary schools\u2014an issue that is said to be giving jitters to the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti as also Uddhav’s supporter Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language an emotive issue <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language is often a strong marker of identity and any perceived threat can trigger strong emotional responses, thereby making it a great political tool <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Tamil and Kannada, Marathi is at the centre-stage, one of the reasons is the upcoming local bodies elections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local bodies and Marathi compulsions or is Fadnavis trying to \u201ccut down to size\u201d\u00a0his deputy Eknath Shinde The Thursday meeting between friends-turned-foes Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has generated a lot of speculation and buzz in the corridors of Maharashtra politics.\u00a0 The given reason was that it was about the post of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":355034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1801],"tags":[18934,19977,16693,19726],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355033"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355035,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355033\/revisions\/355035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/355034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}