Abu Azmi sits beside Sanjay Raut at Cong-NCP-Sena meet; insult to Bal Thackeray forgotten?

In what came as a major surprise amidst the show of strength of NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena leaders on Monday, Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi was present and prominently so at Mumbai's Grand Hyatt Hotel. Abu Azmi was seated at the front row, alongside Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, Balasaheb Thorat and Sena's Sanjay Raut. He took oath with the leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. 

Speaking to news agency ANI after the oath-taking at Hotel Grand Hyatt, he said he extended his support after orders from Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav. "After an approval from the party chief Akhilesh Yadav, I have given a letter showing the support of SP for Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance," he said.

Notably, Abu Azmi has been at loggerheads with the Shiv Sena since a long time. In 2009, he was beaten by MNS netas and workers for taking oath in Hindi and not Marathi. Making a sharp criticism of Azmi, Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray also wrote about him in a Saamna editorial. Answering back, Azmi had gone on to the extent of calling him senile. The coming together of such arch-rivals has come as yet another shock amid Maharahstra's long and thrilling political drama, with Abu Azmi trending on Twitter shortly after the show-of-strength. 

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Maha Vikas Aghadi's show of strength

The NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena on Monday demonstrated a massive show of strength at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Mumbai. In the meeting, all leaders and MLAs of NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress took an oath in the presence of media. Administering the oath, NCP leader Jitendra Awhad urged the leaders to stand up and pledge to be with the alliance. Earlier, in the show of strength, Congress Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, assured that thay have the support of 162 MLAs and that their Maha Vikas Aghadi will work together against the motives of BJP. 

In the oath, the leaders said: "I swear that under the leadership of Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray & Sonia Gandhi, I will be honest to my party. I won't get lured by anything. I will not do anything which will benefit BJP."

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