Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Sena legislators Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab and Varun Desai.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders after the BJP-led Mahayuti government was formed in Maharashtra.

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Thackeray, who is a member of the Maharashtra state legislative council, is camping in Nagpur to attend the ongoing winter session of the state legislature.

Shortly after Uddhav met Fadnavis, he said, “I could not win the election. The Mahayuti people won the election and they have formed their government. Decisions in the interest of Maharashtra are expected, but through the public, we will keep asking them how they won this election”.

UBT Sena MLA from Worli constituency in Mumbai Aaditya Thackeray, who is Uddhav Thackeray’s son said, “Today our party chief Uddhav Thackeray met CM Devendra Fadnavis and Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar. This is a step forward. Both the ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) should show the political maturity to work together to benefit the country and the state of Maharashtra”.

Earlier on Tuesday, Uddhav Thackeray called for elections to be held using ballot papers and stated that the central government’s move to introduce the ‘One Nation One Election’ bill in the Lok Sabha is an attempt to divert attention from issues plaguing the country.

“First of all, the Election Commissioner must be chosen through elections, The issue of ‘One Nation, One Election’ should come later. If the President can be elected, why should the Election Commissioner not be elected? If people have doubts about EVMs, then those doubts must be addressed. Let voting take place using ballot papers once. If the same majority is achieved even after elections are held using ballot papers, no one will question it again,” Uddhav Thackeray said.

It may be recalled that Uddhav Thackeray’s meeting with CM Fadnavis on Tuesday came merely two days after he attacked the union government and sought to know what steps are being taken to protect Hindus in Bangladesh who have been suffering attacks. This move was seen as a return to the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s Hindutva agenda.

The Uddhav Thackeray-Fadnavis meeting also came days after the All India Ulema Board urged the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to break their alliance with Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena, after a UBT Sena Member of Legislative Council (MLC) called Milind Narvekar, considered close to Uddhav, used his X handle to tweet a Babri Masjid demolition image on December 6, with an old 1990s quote attributed to the late Bal Thackeray, “I am proud of those who did it”.

This act was also seen as the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s return to its Hindutva agenda.

“We demand that Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP break their alliance with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction. This is because the All India Ulema Board, along with the Muslim community, is with the Maha Vikas Aghadi,” All India Ulema Board’s Bunei Hafiz had stated, pointing out that the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s Milind Narvekar praised the Babri Masjid demolition on X, despite the UBT Sena winning 20 seats from Muslim-majority areas in the recently concluded 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.