Uddhav Thackeray meets Sunita Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh after Rahul Gandhi, Kharge

Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday met Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal. Kejriwal's parents and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were also present for this meeting. He is also slated to meet senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi today in Delhi. 

The meeting comes a day after Thackeray met Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal. Rahul Gandhi said that the meeting with Thackeray was held in context of the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls, which are likely to be held in October this year.

"The Maha Vikas Aghadi will contest the elections together and win," Gandhi said on his WhatsApp channel. For this meeting, Thackeray was accompanied by his son Aaditya Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Rajya Sabha. 

Thackeray reportedly raised the issue of growing discontent and frustration of farmers and youth with the ruling Mahayuti alliance. After the meeting, Kharge said: "Farmers and youth of Maharashtra are fed up with the opportunistic BJP-led alliance. 13 crore people of Maharashtra are looking for change."

During this meeting, discussions were focussed on seat sharing and the selection of a CM face for the upcoming assembly elections. It was also decided that Congress will contest more seats than Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the CM would be selected after the elections. 

The seat-sharing arrangement for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance will be finalised by early September, newswire PTI reported citing sources aware of the matter. There is also a possibility of the alliance partners swapping some seats to enhance their chances at winning the state elections. 

It was decided that the Maha Vikas Aghadi will present a collective leadership rather than an individual candidate for the state polls. Thackeray also met leaders such as Digvijaya Singh, Derek O'Brien, and Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP Aditya Yadav.

These meetings assume significance as Thackeray indicated once again on Wednesday that he is ready to be projected as the CM face for the assembly elections in the state if the MVA allies agree to do so. 

He further said that he did neither dreamt of becoming the Chief Minister nor did he want this but he is not going to run away from his responsibility. "I took responsibility and tried to perform to the best of my ability. If my colleagues feel that I have done an excellent job, then ask them if they want to see me as the Chief Minister. People will decide," Uddhav Thackeray said.