There has been a lot of speculation since Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut met with BJP leader and Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The two parties have not been on the greatest of terms recently. Allied for several years, the Sena had broken away to join hands with the NCP and the Congress to form the Maharashtra government in 2019. Since then, both sides have repeatedly taken jabs at each other.
But last week, many an eyebrow was raised as the two met at a suburban hotel in Mumbai for around two hours, prompting speculation in political circles. While the BJP had denied that their discussion had any political aspect to it, others had said that the two were discussing an upcoming Saamana interview. A day later Raut, without specifying what was discussed said that the two were not "enemies", ideological differences notwithstanding, and that even the Chief Minister had known about the meeting.
There has now been a new development, as Maharashtra BJP chief, Chandrakant Patil, hinted that there might have been more to the meeting than mere small talk.
"If top leaders of two different political parties meet, political discussions do take place. If they sat together for 2-2.5 hrs, they didn't discuss tea-biscuits," he contended.
Patil however said that these talks were "inconclusive".