Mamata meets Shiv Sena leader

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today met Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, triggering speculations of an alliance in the political circles.

Raut, however, denied that his party was joining any front.

"The Shiv Sena and Mamata Banerjee have a very warm relationship. There were certain things which Mamata ji wanted to convey to Uddhav ji (Thackeray, president of the Shiv Sena)," he said.

The Sena leader declined to elaborate further on the meeting.

"I respect Shiv Sena. At least it does not do politics with a gun in their hand. There is no party more communal than the BJP," Banerjee told reporters after the meeting.

The TMC supremo has been trying to weave a federal front, ahead of the 2019 polls.

The meeting also assumes significance as the Shiv Sena has differed with the BJP on numerous fronts.

Although the two parties are in power in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, the second largest party in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, has been critical of the BJP dispensation at the Centre as well in the state. The Sena also recently announced that it would go solo in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

This is not the first time Mamata has met a Shiv Sena leader. Last year, Uddhav Thackeray met Banerjee when the latter was in Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena also supported the rally by Banerjee against demonetisation.

Irked with the BJP over the Union budget, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had also called Thackeray last month. Naidu-led TDP recently pulled out from the NDA after the Centre declined to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh.