Reports of Uddhav-Raj secret meeting false: Sanjay Raut

A day after a local news channel reported that Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and his estranged brother and MNS chief Raj Thackeray met secretly, party MP Sanjay Raut today termed the reports as "false" and said rumours are being floated to create political stir.
Quoting the Sena President, Raut in a release said, "Rumours are being made that the Sena and the MNS Presidents met for a political discussion on Friday. False information is being spread to create confusion. No such meeting has taken place between the two leaders."
Further quoting Thackeray, he said the Shiv Sena is an independent and a powerful political party and does not believe in holding secret meetings.

"Some people make rumours into news stories when there are no political events happening," he said.
A private news channel had yesterday claimed that both the leaders had met at a secret place to discuss the upcoming elections of Kalyan-Dombivli and Kolhapur Municipal Corporations.
Raut said the Sena will emerge victorious in the upcoming Municipal elections of Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan-Dombivali.

The elections are scheduled in October this year.
In Kolhapur, the BJP has decided to have a pre-poll alliance with Tara Rani Group, a local outfit. Thus, the Sena called off its alliance with its ally there.
It was then being assumed that the Sena and the MNS might come together to fight the municipal polls together.

A senior Sena leader, while elucidating the turn of events in the recent days, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Thackeray have got close to each other after Aditya (Uddhav's son) met the PM at his residence.
"After PM's meeting, Modi ji called Uddhav ji and cleared the air. They have gotten close since then. Uddhav ji at this stage will not go towards the MNS and thereby sideline the BJP once again," the Sena leader, requesting anonymity, said.