Newly-appointed BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday visited the headquarters of Sangh Parivar fountainhead RSS in Nagpur to meet the Sangh top brass, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
A close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Shah also met RSS general secretary Bhaiyya Joshi and other senior functionaries. Though the BJP claimed that it was a courtesy meeting, the party’s Maharashtra unit chief Devendra Fadnavis and state general secretary Ravindra Bhusari also met the RSS leadership along with Mr Shah for a while.
Sources disclosed that the coming Assembly elections in Maharashtra and the party’s strategy for Delhi were discussed along with other issues with the RSS top brass. The meeting lasted for about 90 minutes.
In Maharashtra, both the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena are vying for the chief ministerial candidate post and the BJP is demanding more Assembly seats this time. While the BJP central leadership is not in favour of snapping ties with the Shiv Sena, a majority section with the state unit wants to go solo.
As the RSS has recently deputed its two senior functionaries, Ram Madhav and Shivprakash, in the BJP, their likely roles in the party were also discussed.
Sources disclosed that as Mr Shah will form his new team, the two are expected to get prominent roles in the restructured organisation.
Earlier, Mr Shah visited the RSS Smruti Mandir at Reshimbagh. The BJP chief was accorded a warm reception on his maiden visit to the city. He also offered floral tributes to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Deekshabhoomi.
Mr Shah also had a luncheon meeting with Maharashtra State Legislative Council chief Vinod Tawade, the late Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja Munde and others at the Dharampeth residence of Mr Fadnavis.
Mr Shah already had a first-round meeting with Maharashtra unit’s core committee earlier this week.