Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray attended the meeting of the opposition parties convened by the Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi. Analysts say that the presence of Uddhav Thackeray at this meeting is a clear indication that Shiv Sena will join the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the coming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had called a meeting of opposition leaders on August 20. Nineteen opposition party leaders attended the meeting. These include Congress, NCP, TMC, Shiv Sena, etc. Uddhav Thackeray's participation in the meeting of the Opposition parties with Sonia Gandhi is giving rise to speculations of former NDA ally, Shiv Sena, joining the UPA.
Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi had appealed to the opposition parties to come together for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. During this meeting, Uddhav Thackeray also urged the opposition parties to unite given the current situation in the country. The Maharashtra CM said, "If all the opposition parties come together, we can give an alternative to Centre. We have to make people trust about this."
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Shiv Sena is also supporting Congress and NCP in the current Mahavikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra after separating from the BJP. However, there has been no comment from the Shiv Sena on the possibility of joining the UPA. At the same time, the presence of Uddhav Thackeray in the meeting of the opposition can't be ignored totally, fueling the possibility of Shiv Sena joining the UPA.
According to political analyst Sandeep Pradhan, if the keys to power fall into the hands of the Congress after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then it will be a political compulsion for Shiv Sena to support the Congress as the party helped Uddhav Thackeray to form the government in Maharashtra and approved him as the Chief Minister of the state. Therefore, political analyst Sandeep Pradhan believes that Shiv Sena and Congress will be in power at the Centre in the coming days as well. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut is closer to Congress scion Rahul Gandhi. Shiv Sena has also supported every step taken by the Congress in the Parliament.
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Former Maharashtra CM and veteran Congress leader Ashok Chavan said Congress has worked to bring all the opposition parties together through the UPA. If Shiv Sena wants to join this group, they are welcome. BJP has also has reacted to this development. BJP Spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay criticised Uddhav Thackeray, terming him as "sitting on his knees in front of Congress". The BJP spokesperson further highlighted that Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray always opposed the Congress and termed the party responsible for several problems in the country.
