Mumbai: In an unprecedented confidence building measure, the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress are conducting ‘cross-meetings’ with the legislators of their parties in the proposed ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ here on Sunday, party sources said.
For starters, NCP President Sharad Pawar met his party legislators at Hotel Renaissance along with Nawab Malik, and were later joined by Shiv Sena senior leaders like Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde.
Later, Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and party MP Sanjay Raut and Milind Narvekar would meet the NCP legislators and address them.
Thereafter, Pawar, Thackeray and their party leaders would proceed to Hotel JW Marriot to meet and speak with the Congress legislators put up there.
A similar exercise is likely to be taken up with the Sena legislators at a deluxe hotel to complete the process of sending ‘right signals’ to them, the sources said.
“This exercise is necessary to assuage the doubts and anxieties among the legislators in view of Saturday’s political developments leading to utter confusion and dismay among these elected representatives,” said a Sena source, requesting anonymity.
The joint meetings would also reassure the legislators of the three partners that their respective leaders are on the same page and would continue in the same vein in the near future, particularly since the three parties have decided to tackle the crisis on the legal and political fronts.
Sending out such a message would be important as the three parties will be required to work in complete unison and coordination during crucial legislative formalities like the Speaker’s election and the floor test in the Assembly where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar shall be called upon to prove their majority, the Sena source said.
Besides these ‘cross-party meetings’ the leaders of the three parties shall also discuss among themselves their joint future course of action, as may be necessitated after the outcome of the Supreme Court case on Monday.
(IANS)
