Aaditya Thackeray urges seniors to lead tie-up talks between Sena(UBT), MNS

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday said his party responded to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's call for rapprochement and that seniors from that party should step up to take it forward.

Talking to reporters, Thackeray said his party welcomes whoever is opposed to the anti-Maharashtra BJP.

When they talked about it, we responded. Their seniors should come forward. We are there where we were (in the past). For the betterment of the country, Maharashtra and society, we welcome those with an open heart who are against the anti-Maharashtra BJP and (Eknath) Shinde, Thackeray said.

Last month, cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray sparked speculation about a possible reconciliation with statements indicating they could ignore trivial issues and join hands, nearly two decades after a bitter parting of ways.

Uddhav, however, had put a condition that Raj should have no truck with the BJP or the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

While the MNS chief has said that uniting in the interests of Marathi manoos (Marathi-speaking people) is not difficult, former CM Uddhav Thackeray said he was ready to put aside trivial fights, provided that those working against Maharashtra's interests were not entertained.

Earlier this week, senior MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande had said that Raj Thackeray would consider an alliance with the Sena (UBT) only if a concrete proposal was put forward, noting their previous overtures for a tie-up were met with betrayal.

More than a month has passed, but there has been no visible progress in the matter, with both sides putting the ball in each other's court.