Uddhav Thackeray responds to Devendra Fadnavis' reuniting 'offer', says 'yeh andar ki baat haai'

Fadnavis, however, cleared the air, stating that it was a joke.

The row comes after Fadnavis, during a farewell function of the Leader of the Opposition in the Council, Ambadas Danve, said: "Uddhav ji, there is no scope (for a change in government) till 2029. We do not have the scope to come to the other (Opposition's) side. You have the scope to come here, and it can be thought about. We can think about it differently."

To a question by reporters on Friday, Fadnavis said, "Why do you take our jokes seriously? Even Uddhav ji has said it was said in a lighter note. Don't take our tension. We (Mahayuti) are capable and competent."

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray met Fadnavis on Thursday to present him with a copy of the book ‘Why Do We Need Hindi?’.

The meeting took place in the chamber of Legislative Council Chairperson Ram Shinde and lasted around 20 minutes.

Thackeray was accompanied by his son and former minister Aaditya Thackeray.

On Friday, when asked by reporters to respond to Fadnavis' offer, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said, "Before speaking to you, I was speaking to the print media. I spoke about the chaddi baniyan gang. Chaddi baniyans also have an advertisement - yeh andar ki baat hai."

The "chaddi baniyan" reference was made to a comment by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, who in the assembly said the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has fostered a culture of violence, misgovernance and corruption, turning Maharashtra into a "20 per cent commission" state.

"While koyta gangs (gangs wielding 'koyta' knives) wreaked havoc in Pune, the ruling party has its own chaddi baniyan gang who resort to violence if things do not go their way," Wadettiwar had said.

The undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray parted ways with longtime ally BJP after the 2019 assembly election over a dispute on sharing the chief minister's post.