MNS Chief Raj Thackeray Meets Amit Shah Amid Speculation of Joining NDA

New Delhi: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah amid ongoing speculation about the Maharashtra party joining the BJP-led NDA fold ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The MNS, which has only one MLA in the state Assembly, could contest two seats in the Mumbai region.

Also, JMM supremo Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law Sita Soren joined the BJP on Tuesday. Ms Soren, sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, quit the JMM hours before joining the BJP, claiming that she was being neglected and isolated in the state's ruling party.

Ms Soren joined the BJP in the presence of national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Jharkhand in-charge Laxmikant Bajpai at its headquarters here.

The three-term MLA's decision to join the BJP is a shot in the arm for the party's efforts to boost its connect with the Scheduled Tribes, a community that has been the main vote base of the JMM.

Ms Soren had openly opposed any move to make Kalpana Soren, wife of Hemant Soren, who is behind bars over a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam, as the new chief minister.

In her resignation letter addressed to JMM supremo Shibhu Soren, her father-in-law, Ms Soren said that after the demise of her husband, the party failed to provide adequate support to her and her family.