Mumbai: ThePrint has learned that either Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray or his son Aditya will join Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’, which will enter Maharashtra next month.
Confirmation of joining Shiv Sena Travel – what is done 1,000 km Last week — came a day after a Congress party delegation Had a meeting Thackeray went to his Mumbai residence Matoshree and invited him to join the Maharashtra leg. Travel, Which is starting from 6th November.
The delegation, led by Congress’ Maharashtra in-charge HK Patil and comprising senior party leaders such as Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan, also met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar at the Yashwantrao Chavan Center and invited him to join. did. 3,570-km Travel,
Speaking to ThePrint, a Congress source said that Thackeray asked the party if both he and his son could not make it. TravelOne of them will mark the presence of Shiv Sena. Similarly, Pawar has also promised to join TravelAs his daughter Supriya Sule has done, Source added.
“Rahul Gandhi is on India Jodi Yatra and we are inviting our colleagues and friends to join,” Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole told ThePrint. Lakhs of people are connecting with Rahul Gandhi every day. So, tomorrow nobody should tell us that they want to attend but we didn’t invite them.”
Once it enters Maharashtra through Deglur in Nanded – the ground of senior leader Ashok Chavan , On November 6, India Jodi Tour, currently Andra PradeshIs scheduled To cover a distance of 383 km in 16 days in the state before going to Madhya Pradesh.
Rahul is expected to address 10 public meetings across Maharashtra during his visit.
Read also: ‘Maharashtrian culture’ or a sham of defeat? Why BJP withdrew from Andheri by-election?
Melting relationships, growing closeness
From his opposition to tying up with Shiv Sena to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to asking Thackeray to join him. TravelRahul Gandhi’s relationship with the Shiv Sena leader goes back a long time.
In 2019, Rahul reportedly Oppose The alliance with Shiv Sena was further troubled due to ideological reasons. With senior party leaders like the late Ahmed Patel Mediation This.
However, as time passed, Rahul was seen softening his stance – especially in the face of growing bitterness between the Shiv Sena and its old ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and also noting that of the army praise him.
This growing closeness between the two parties showed- Aditya in January 2020 Had a meeting Rahul in Delhi two months after their parties’ alliance.
In his speech at Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally earlier this month, Uddhav had said that when his own people betrayed him, it was Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar who stood by him.
The speech came nearly two months after internal strife and a rebellion within the Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the Uddhav-led MVA, making way for a new government under rebel army leader Eknath Shinde.
After Congress extended its support to Shiv Sena’s (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidate Rutuja Latte in the Andheri East by-election next month, Uddhav reportedly called Thank you Sonia.
Rahul came out on his behalf In support Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who was arrested in August and accused the ruling BJP of political vendetta.
Soon after Raut’s decision, Rahul said in a tweet on August 1, the message of ‘Raja’ is clear – whoever speaks against me will have to suffer. to arrest Accused of money laundering in connection with Patra Chal project in Mumbai. Efforts are on to break the morale of the opponents and suppress the voice of truth by misusing government agencies.
Despite this growing closeness, Gandhi never visited Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, not even after the formation of the MVA alliance.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Read also: Clever on Shinde rebellion, Uddhav makes peace with Chhagan Bhujbal, the army’s first rebel