New Delhi: He said it was to keep a promise he made long ago. After Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went and met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray at his residence on Monday, he set off political circles in the state abuzz with a possible alliance between the BJP and MNS for the forthcoming BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) elections. While the two leaders maintained that no politics was discussed on the occasion, Fadnavis held that it was a “courtesy call” he had promised Raj Thackeray when he called him to congratulate for taking over as chief minister in December last year.

But even if we take Fadnavis’s statement on the face value, that no politics was discussed, can we ignore the subtle message that the ‘visit’ intended to give out – BJP has one more option in MNS for the BMC elections. And while, MNS is barely a political force in the state where it failed to win even a single assembly seat recently, it can ably complement BJP in the Mumbai city where BMC elections are expected to be a high-stakes bitter battle between various contestants. For records – MNS had won 7 seats in the last BMC elections.

Meanwhile, the meeting also intends to send across a message to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who has failed to accept his demotion........

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