Uddhav Thackeray welcomes PM Narendra Modi in Pune

PUNE: In a keenly-watched development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a 'protocol encounter' with Uddhav Thackeray for the first time after the latter became the chief minister of Maharashtra, here late on Friday.
As the Prime Minister alighted from the aircraft, he was welcomed by Union home minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra governor BS Koshyari, Uddhav Thackeray and the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis.
This was the first meeting between the two political stalwarts after the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena snapped their decades old ties and went their separate ways last month.
Thackeray specially went from Mumbai to Pune to receive and welcome Modi as a state protocol gesture, and the two were together for barely a few minutes. Modi shook hands warmly with Thackeray who bowed and welcomed him.
Over a week after he took over as the chief minister, Thackeray has not yet formally met the Prime Minister, though a meeting is likely to be announced shortly.
Modi, along with Shah, arrived in Pune for the three-day national conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of police being held at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) here.
The Modi-Thackeray meet is expected to have a positive bearing on the relations between the two in the coming months, particularly since the new state government has initiated some steps that have upset the Opposition BJP.
It maybe recalled that on November 28, Modi was among the earliests to congratulate Thackeray on his being swoRead More – Source