After Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis, who is the Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday, 31 May, speculations on the new political arithmetic emerging in the state under ‘Operation Lotus’ started doing the rounds.
However, Shiv Sena was swift in dismissing any speculation. The editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana said that, there was nothing “mysterious” about the interaction and added that Pawar’s stature is such that politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi keep consulting him on various issues.