“It was just a short courtesy meeting (between her father Sharad Pawar and Shinde), there is nothing more to it. He (Shinde) is the deputy chief minister; meeting constitutional functionaries is normal. I have spoken to Sanjay Raut, it was just a misunderstanding,” she told reporters here.
Sule then referred to Thackeray’s meeting with Ajit Pawar. “When Dada (Ajit) left and joined NDA, Uddhavji met Dada on the 17th day (after the split). We took it as Uddhavji’s meeting with a deputy chief minister and the meeting was because the latter occupied a constitutional post. We were clear that Uddhavji met Dada to discuss issues related to Maharashtra and we didn’t say anything. In a strong democracy there should be dialogue,” said Sule.
UBT Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who on Thursday questioned Pawar’s credibility, tried to dial it down on Friday by saying: “We were upset yesterday, but we are not upset today. Pawar sahab is our supreme leader and a leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Yesterday we only expressed our feelings.” He, however, maintained that MVA parties should not be hobnobbing with those “who split political parties”.
Sule also rebuffed the claim of senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who had hinted that five to six Lok Sabha MPs of NCP-SP may jump ship. Sule said NCP-SP MPs were not joining any other party.
