Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray Display Rare Bonhomie Amid Political Rift: Watch

Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray surprised many with their rare display of bonhomie despite political differences.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray surprised many as they arrived at Vidhan Bhavan talking to each other and greeting media persons together. The rare display of bonhomie amid an ongoing political rift grabbed the attention of social media.

Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Thackeray had arrived to take part in a meeting of the Marathi Language department.

Fadnavis and Thackeray have been bitter foes since the undivided Shiv Sena broke its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party after the 2019 Assembly polls over sharing of the chief ministerial tenure.

Thackeray then formed the government in the state with the support of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.

The acrimony between the two leaders increased after a rebellion by Eknath Shinde brought down Thackeray's Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June last year. Shinde then became chief minister with the BJP's support.

Fadnavis had earlier said he had taken revenge on Thackeray by ensuring the collapse of the MVA government.

EC Recognises Eknath Shinde Faction As Real Shiv Sena

Earlier, the Election Commission allocated the party name "Shiv Sena" and poll symbol "bow and arrow" to the Eknath Shinde faction. In its ruling, the EC noted that MLAs backing Eknath Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction's MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes polled in favour of the winning Shiv Sena candidates, the three-member Commission said in a unanimous order.

The Shiv Sena split into two factions after Shinde revolted against Uddhav Thackeray last year, leading to the collapse of the MVA government. Shinde then went on to form the government with BJP's support and was made the Chief Minister. More than 40 of the Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs backed Shinde, forcing Thackeray to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

Since then, both Shinde and Uddhav factions have been fighting for the bow and arrow symbol of the party.

In a 78-page order, the Election Commission allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to keep the "flaming torch" poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the assembly bypolls in the state.