‘Just a courtesy call,’ clarifies Sule after Sena (UBT) fumes over Pawar-Shinde meet

Following Thursday (July 9)’s showdown between Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) leaders over NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, has now sought to placate nerves and quell rumours of any political shifts.

'Storm in a teacup'

Calling the outrage in Sena (UBT) a “storm in a teacup”, the NCP (SP) MP on Friday (July 10) said “it was just a courtesy meeting. Nothing more than that,” NDTV reported.

Responding to Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut’s outburst over the meeting, Sule said she has spoken to him and explained that it was a misunderstanding.

“We are good now,” she told NDTV.

Also read/watch: After Ajit Pawar's death, is NCP merger possible? | Talking Sense With Srini

Sule also shut down speculations about her party’s merger with the Congress and an alleged camp wanting for a switch to the NDA.

“I am in constant touch with all our eight MPs. We are all united,” she said.

Why did Sena (UBT) get miffed?

Raut on Thursday said his party was disturbed and hurt with Pawar's meeting in Shinde's office, and stressed that such acts lower the credibility of a senior leader like him. Referring to Shinde and his defection from Shiv Sena, he added that the meeting amounted to "glorification of traitors".

The NCP (SP) hit back at Raut in strong words, accusing him of adopting "double standards" and reminding him that Pawar's meetings with him and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray were earlier hailed as "political statesmanship".

Stating that politics runs on arithmetic and not emotions, the NCP (SP) also said if a single meeting between Pawar and Shinde could unsettle the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, then it reflects that its foundation is weak.

Also read: Another Sena breakaway? Six MPs push Uddhav to the brink

Raut, however, later clarified that he was not upset with Sharad Pawar but was only voicing the concerns of his party workers over the latter’s meeting with Shinde.

“Shinde is a traitor. We should not give him legitimacy by meeting him. We can’t be sipping tea with a traitor,” he said.

Pawar-Shinde meeting

Pawar, who heads the NCP (SP), met MLAs of his party in Shinde's office at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Mumbai on Wednesday (July 8).

Pawar was at the state legislature premises to attend a meeting as a member of the high-powered committee formed by the state government on the long-pending Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute. After attending the meeting, Pawar, whose party is a constituent of the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), paid a "courtesy visit" to Shinde in his chamber.

Congress added fuel to fire

NCP(SP)'s other ally, the Congress, also claimed that some MPs in Sharad Pawar’s camp want to switch sides.

"Five or six MPs from Sharad Pawar's NCP are restless. It is unclear what they will do, but they are currently in a state of instability," NDTV quoted senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan as saying.

Also read: What Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs’ defection means for Shinde, BJP and Maharashtra politics

Chavan also said that it was natural for the Shiv Sena (UBT) to be upset over Pawar's meeting with Shinde, but said there was nothing wrong if politicians maintain cordial personal relations.

Party not involved in merger talks: Sule

NCP (SP), however, rubbished the speculation and said all its eight MPs and 10 MLAs were united.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Sule also dismissed speculation about a merger of her party with the Congress, asserting no proposal had been exchanged between the two sides and they would continue to work together as allies.

Also read: Hurt by Operation Tiger, Uddhav’s Sena pivots to 'true' Hindutva; will it work?

The NCP (SP) and the Congress are constituents of the Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra and the INDIA bloc at the national level.

"The NCP (SP) is not involved in any merger talks. We have neither received any proposal from the Congress nor have we given them any proposal regarding a merger," the Lok Sabha MP from Pune’s Baramati told reporters.