Shah-Thackeray meet: Se plays hardball on Presidential polls

Mumbai, June 18: Shiv Se President Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday maintained his party’s aggressive stance on the issue of the Presidential polls at the much awaited meeting with BJP President Amit Shah here on Sunday. Though the Bharatiya Jata Party chief did not disclose the mes of any candidate for the post of President, he sought Thackeray’s support for the NDA nominee who would be announced by Prime Minister rendra Modi.
However, Thackeray reiterated his pet mes for the top post - RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and agro-scientist M.S. Swamithan. The BJP has remained non-committal to the mes though it has said it is open to discussions. Thackeray is also understood to have informed Shah that the BJP must announce first its candidate for Presidency before his party can take a decision on whether to support the nominee.
On record, both parties kept mum on the deliberations at the Shah-Thackeray meet though the BJP termed it as “a courtesy call where talks were held in a cordial atmosphere”. For the Se, Thackeray and his son Aditya took part in the talks while Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadvis represented the BJP.  Other Se leaders and BJP state President Raosaheb Patil-Danve stayed out of the 75-minute meeting.
The meeting was part of the BJP’s strategy to evolve a consensus among all political parties over the Presidential polls and to ensure the support of its oldest ally, the Shiv Se, for the NDA nominee. In the Presidential polls of 2007 and 2012, the Se deviated from the NDA to vote for the Congress nominees: Pratibha Patil and Prab Mukherjee respectively.
Shah later drew the curtains on his three-day visit to Mumbai by meeting NDA constituents like Republican Party of India-A President Ramdas Athawale, who is Union Minister for Social Justice, Rashtriya Samaj Party chief Mahadeo Jankar, Shiv Sangram Party chief Viyak Mete and Jansurajya Party chief Viy Kore among others. (IANS)