Mumbai: Hope for an alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena got renewed on Sunday as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat began fresh efforts to bring the estranged allies together.
Mr Bhagwat had a telephonic discussion on the alliance issue with Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray.
A top Sena leader claimed that the RSS chief and Sena supremo were likely to meet on Monday to take these discussions further ahead.
This is not the first time the two talked about this matter. Since November 12, Mr Bhagwat spoke to Mr Thackeray four times, top Sena sources said.
“Mr Bhagwat called Mr Thackeray over phone to discuss power-sharing issues in detail. He has been in touch with the Shiv Sena president since last week.
Both had deliberations on the alliance four times, including today,” a source said adding, “The first call was on November 12, when the trust vote was passed in the Assembly.”
Since the saffron allies parted ways over seat-sh-aring, the RSS has been keen on a patch-up, a senior BJP leader admitted, but said he wasn’t aware of any direct intervention.
Union Minister Anant Geete, Shiv Sena’s lone face in the Modi government, indicated that despite the split, his party was in no mood to pull out at the Central level.
