BJP chief Amit Shah to meet Uddhav Thackeray

In a bid to defuse tensions between allies Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party, visiting BJP president Amit Shah will meet Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, a party official said here Thursday.

He will call on Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri, the Thackeray residence in Bandra east which has been the venue for many such VVIP meetings in the past over four decades, especially during the lifetime of the late Bal Thackeray.

Before meeting Uddhav Thackeray, Shah will visit the Thackeray memorial at Shivaji Park and pay homage to the founder of the Shiv Sena.

Till the time the BJP chief landed in Mumbai Thursday morning, both parties had officially declared that no meeting was scheduled between the two.

However, Uddhav Thackeray reportedly took the first step by inviting Shah to his residence, which the latter acknowledged and accepted.

The Mumbai-born Shah arrived in the city on his first visit after taking over as party chief. He was accorded a tumultuous welcome by thousands of party activists and top leaders at the Mumbai airport.

In his brief address, Shah said the second phase of making a 'Congress-mukt Bharat' (India free of the Congress rule) would be launched from Maharashtra where Swaraj was established by Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

"This is the worst and most corrupt government ruling in Maharashtra for the past 15 years... We shall remove all Congress governments across the country," Shah said to a resounding applause.

Shortly afterwards, Shah attended a meeting of the BJP core committee at the residence of Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Vinod Tawde. He later went for lunch at the residence of city MP Poonam Mahajan, who is daughter of the late Pramod Mahajan and niece of the late Gopinath Munde, both senior BJP leaders.

Thursday afternoon, he will address a meeting of BJP activists at Shanmukhanda Hall and guide them on the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.

He will also visit Ganeshotsav marquees in Lalbaug, Bandra and Gilder Tank, besides performing a 'Ganesh maha-aarti' and inaugurating an exhibition on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.