Amid Congress, NCP pressure to reject NPR, Uddhav Thackeray to meet Sonia Gandhi, PM Modi today

MUMBAI: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray will be in New Delhi on Friday to meet PM Narendra Modi and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi even as Congress and NCP appear to have further piled up pressure on Shiv Sena to reject the National Population Register, which Sena is in favour of implementing.

A senior Congress minister told TOI that CAA, NRC and NPR may figure in the meeting between Thackeray and Sonia given the divide in the Maha Vikas Aghadi over the issues. Both Congress and NCP want MVA to take the position adopted by non-BJP states, and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat reiterated on Thursday that his party would urge Thackeray to reconsider Sena’s stand that NPR updation, set to begin in the state from May 1, was in the national interest.

This will be Uddhav’s first meeting with Sonia after becoming CM. His son Aaditya had met her in Delhi to invite her for his swearing-in ceremony in November 2019, but she did not attend.


Sena MP and parliamentary party leader Sanjay Raut tweeted that the meeting with the PM would be a “courtesy call,” though Uddhav and Modi had met at a police conference in Pune soon after the latter was sworn in as CM.

Raut stated, “There is no need to dig further, Jai Maharashtra.” However, sources said streamlining of payment of Maharashtra’s GST share and CAA-NRC-NPR may be discussed. Thackeray may also congratulate Modi for announcing formation of a trust to construct the Ram mandir in Ayodhya.