UDDHAV TO MEET SHAH ON 26 SEPT, MAOIST MENACE ON CARDS

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, MP and senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut informed media on Wednesday. On Sunday, Thackeray will be in the national capital to attend the meeting called by Shah on the Centre’s national policy and action plan to combat left-wing extremism in the states. Ahead of this crucial meeting, Thackeray held several meetings to review activities in Naxalite areas to finalise points to pitch in the meeting. In Maharashtra, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Gondiya, Yavatmal, Bhandara and Nanded districts are considered as Naxalite and Naxal-prone areas. Early in the week, explosives hidden by Naxals were found in a forest in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra by security forces following an encounter. 

Ahead of this crucial meet, CM Uddhav Thackeray held a review meeting which was attended by Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil, Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte and senior police officials from the state, where the state government’s efforts to tackle Naxalism, the ongoing development work in the Naxal-affected areas, projects for expansion of transportation and communication networks, provision of funds and reasons for non-utilisations of funds, forest issues and centre-state cooperation were discussed. Accordingly, points will be pitched up in the Delhi meeting.

Apart from that, all eyes will be on whether, apart from this official meet, any political undertone is part of Thackeray’s visit to the national capital. Recently, at a function in Aurangabad in Maharashtra, it was Uddhav Thackeray who referred to Union Minister and senior BJP leader Raosaheb Danve as “my former friend—and if we come together again, then future friend”, leading to speculation as to whether a political realignment was in the offing. The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with the BJP after the 2019 Assembly polls and formed a government with the NCP and Congress. It was a bitter break-up in 2019 over power sharing in Maharashtra. It was in June that the Chief Minister’s one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ignited talk of a re-alignment in Maharashtra.