Key NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal met his mentor late on Saturday night, though Bhujbal termed the meeting a courtesy call, his clarifications failed to calm media houses that were abuzz with speculations of troubled times ahead for the ruling NCP-Congress alliance.
Bhujbal, accompanied by his wife and son, arrived at Matoshri - Thackeray's residence in Bandra West at around 2100 hours and spent some two hours behind closed doors with the Thackeray family.
It was the first meeting between the Sena chief and Bhujbal after a gap of 18 years.
Bhujbal had quit the Sena after differences with the Thackerays in December 1991. In October 2008, he made a unilateral gesture of withdrawing a 10-year old defamation suit he had filed against the 82-year-old Sena supremo.
After the meeting, Bhujbal, dismissed all speculation by saying that it was "a get-together" between the two families. He reiterated that the old 'bitterness' between the two leaders had ended.
Bhujbal's efforts at mending fences with the Thackerays have alarmed many in the NCP.
The meeting is said to have comprised of several emotional moments as the leaders attempted to pick up threads they had left untouched for nearly two decades.
Present on the occasion were Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and his wife and children.
Bhujbal, according to reports, carried several gift for his one-time mentor.
With general elections round the imminent corner, the dinner meeting was considered significant on various counts.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar too enjoys a great rapport with the Sena chief and had met him a few months ago at Matoshri.
The Sena, recently, offered to support Pawar as prime minister if such a situation develops after the next elections - annoying many within Sena’s alliance principality, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Pawar, however, played down the meeting saying: "What is wrong if Bhujbal meets his erstwhile mentor? In fact, Thackeray had invited me too, but I could not make it," he told mediapersons in Satara.
With Pawar unfazed by the development, the meeting may well set the clock ticking on the Congress-NCP alliance which has had its rough moments in recent times after a wrinkle free alliance for nearly five years and may see the Congress attempt to iron-out differences with the NCP.
Bhujbal, accompanied by his wife and son, arrived at Matoshri - Thackeray's residence in Bandra West at around 2100 hours and spent some two hours behind closed doors with the Thackeray family.
It was the first meeting between the Sena chief and Bhujbal after a gap of 18 years.
Bhujbal had quit the Sena after differences with the Thackerays in December 1991. In October 2008, he made a unilateral gesture of withdrawing a 10-year old defamation suit he had filed against the 82-year-old Sena supremo.
After the meeting, Bhujbal, dismissed all speculation by saying that it was "a get-together" between the two families. He reiterated that the old 'bitterness' between the two leaders had ended.
Bhujbal's efforts at mending fences with the Thackerays have alarmed many in the NCP.
The meeting is said to have comprised of several emotional moments as the leaders attempted to pick up threads they had left untouched for nearly two decades.
Present on the occasion were Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and his wife and children.
Bhujbal, according to reports, carried several gift for his one-time mentor.
With general elections round the imminent corner, the dinner meeting was considered significant on various counts.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar too enjoys a great rapport with the Sena chief and had met him a few months ago at Matoshri.
The Sena, recently, offered to support Pawar as prime minister if such a situation develops after the next elections - annoying many within Sena’s alliance principality, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Pawar, however, played down the meeting saying: "What is wrong if Bhujbal meets his erstwhile mentor? In fact, Thackeray had invited me too, but I could not make it," he told mediapersons in Satara.
With Pawar unfazed by the development, the meeting may well set the clock ticking on the Congress-NCP alliance which has had its rough moments in recent times after a wrinkle free alliance for nearly five years and may see the Congress attempt to iron-out differences with the NCP.
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