Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and his arch rival and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane on Friday shared a public platform 12 years after the latter was expelled from the Sena, as Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for the quadrupling of the Mumbai-Goa Highway at Kudal in Sindhudurg district of the coastal Konkan region.
More than the bhoomi puja for the Rs 3,487.58 crore Mumbai-Goa Highway quadrupling project at Kudal, which saw Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, it was Uddhav sharing the platform with Rane that made news.
Rane, who had joined the Congress less than a month after he was expelled from he Shiv Sena for his anti-party activities in July 2005, has been a vociferous critic of Uddhav ever since then. He sat two seats away from Uddhav on the podium at the function. Both did not exchange a word during the entire function.
Though he welcomed Uddhav and his wife who were sitting on the dais, Rane did not talk much about Uddhav except saying that both the Sena president and his wife had contributed to the development in Konkan region and that one should not politicise development issues.
Rane, whose likely entry to the BJP has been a subject of political debate in the State for the last couple of months, heaped praise on Gadkari whom he described as “Vikas Purush” (Development Man). He also complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Interestingly, the posters put up by Rane in the vicinity of the function venue carried the photographs of Gadkari and Fadnavis. There was no mention of the Congress in the photograph.
On his part, Uddhav referred to Rane as his erstwhile party colleague.
“There is no need for me to recall the kind of affinity and love that late Balasaheb Thackeray had for Konkan region. I have never been a Minister but some Ministers had vowed to make Konkan region into California. But their promise remained on paper,” Uddhav said, as he took a pot shot at Rane.
“Rane is my erstwhile party colleague. Though we make different kinds of statements,
I am satisfied that we have come together on one platform for the sake of a development project. My view is that one should not mix politics with development,” Uddhav said, as he echoed the views of Rane.
Uddhav also complimented Gadkari for the latter’s initiatives on the road developments in the country.
“Gadkari is a Minister who works most swiftly than other ministers,” the Sena president said.