Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's support to the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu has created a possibility of rapprochement with the Eknath Shinde faction as well as former ally Bharatiya Janata Party, political observers feel.
By breaking ranks with his Maha Vikas Aghadi allies, Thackeray has shown that he can leave the MVA altogether, said a Mumbai-based political leader. ''Support to Murmu keeps the door open for a future reconciliation and rapprochement,” he said. Thackeray fell out with the BJP over the Maharashtra chief minister's post after the 2019 Assembly elections.
But there are others who feel that Thackeray's support to Murmu was not so much an olive branch to the BJP as a decision forced by his party's MPs. When majority of Sena MLAs led by Shinde rebelled against Thackeray's leadership last month, they claimed that they wanted revival of the "natural alliance" with the BJP.
After the Uddhav Thackeray government collapsed (Contd On P 2)
