Mumbai, February 08: A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, sources on Monday (February 8) said that Pawar’s ally — the Congress party is upset over the Pawar-Thackeray meeting held in Mumbai on Sunday evening.
Pawar met Thackeray last evening to ensure that Sena withdraws its threat to oppose the participation of Australian players in IPL’s third edition.
However, sources say that the Congress feels that Pawar’s meeting with Thackeray at this juncture, when Rahul Gandhi had checkmated the Shiv Sena tirade only shows the government on the defensive.
Sources also added that the party feels that Shiv Sena is nobody to decide safety arrangements for IPL in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, refusing to read any political overtures in the meeting Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said, “We don’t see any political overtures into the meeting. According to media reports, his visit was not as a minister or as NCP chief but as the head of a cricketing body.”
He said Pawar had met Thackeray to ensure a hassle-free IPL keeping in mind Sena’s decision to protest the presence of Australian players in IPL.
——Agencies