Mumbai, 21 June (HS): On Sunday, senior Congress politician

and Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met with Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav

Thackeray at the latter's Matoshree mansion in Mumbai, sparking new political

conjecture. The meeting comes amid continuous upheaval within the Shiv Sena

(UBT), with at least six of its nine Lok Sabha MPs apparently mulling defecting

to the opposing party led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

According to the Shiv Sena (UBT), Uddhav Thackeray's wife Rashmi Thackeray,

Yuvasena chief Aditya Thackeray, and MP Sanjay Raut were also in attendance

during the meeting with Shivakumar. The party documented the conversation in a

post on X. Shivakumar also mentioned on X that he and Thackeray discussed issues

of public concern.

“I was delighted to meet former Maharashtra Chief Minister

Shri Uddhav Thackeray and his family, as well as Member of Parliament Shri

Sanjay Raut, in Mumbai. We had a pleasant conversation and shared ideas on

public issues,” he wrote. Karnataka's Chief Minister was in Mumbai to attend

the wedding of NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule's daughter, Revati Sule, to Sarang

Lakhanee. The meeting of Uddhav and Shivakumar has revived concerns about

probable political realignment involving the Shiv Sena (UBT), including a

possible merger with the Congress. Uddhav, on the other hand, explicitly

refuted such rumors during an event commemorating Shiv Sena Foundation Day.

Interestingly, the six dissident MPs allegedly informed Lok Sabha Speaker Om

Birla that the Shiv Sena (UBT) was mulling a merger with the Congress,

triggering their decision to switch sides.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi