Poll strategist and JD (U) vice president Prashant Kishor met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray here on Tuesday, triggering speculation that the meeting was planned to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday chaired a meeting with 21 MPs and senior leaders reportedly to elicit their views on a possible pre-poll alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra for the general elections.
However, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut termed the meeting with Kishor as a "courtesy meeting" and claimed that strategy was not discussed as the Shiv Sena forms its own poll strategy.
"Prashant Kishor is a vice-president of JD (U). This was a courtesy meeting and not a political visit. JD (U) is a part of NDA just like the Shiv Sena. A discussion took place which will go forward. Just wait and watch," Raut said after meeting Kishor in Mumbai.
Earlier, there had been speculation that the Shiv Sena might go solo in the Lok Sabha elections. "We have enough strength to fight," Raut had said.
The meeting on Tuesday came after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on January 28 asserted that the BJP is not "helpless". Shiv Sena an ally of the BJP in Maharashtra has always been critical of the party.
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The Chief Minister's comment came after Raut told reporters that his party will continue to be the "big brother" in any alliance.
"BJP is not helpless, yes we want alliance but for development of the nation. Don't want power to go to the hands of people who looted the nation for long. We're trying to get into an alliance but we are not helpless. BJP is the party which reached 200 from two," said Fadnavis.
Shiv Sena, which is part of the BJP-led governments at the Centre as well as the state, has been bitter with the BJP lately. At the party's national executive meet here in January last year, the Shiv Sena had reportedly resolved to fight the General and Assembly elections on its own.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested as alliance partners and won 41 seats out of a total of 48 at stake in the state. BJP had won 22 seats, while the Shiv Sena 19. However, they contested the subsequent Assembly polls separately.