Sharad Pawar meets CM Uddhav Thackeray; Discusses political and COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra

Mumbai, May 27: NCP president Sharad Pawar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and discussed the political situation in the state and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's handling of the COVID-19 situation.

The meeting took place late Wednesday evening at the chief minister's official residence 'Varsha' in Mumbai, sources said on Thursday. This was the first meeting between the two leaders after Pawar (80) recovered from his gall bladder surgery.

The Shiv Sena, led by Thackeray, shares power with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra. The deliberationswere centred around political developments in the state, NCP sources said. The two leaders discussed the MVA government's management of COVID-19, they said.

Pawar expressed satisfaction over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and implementation of the lockdown-like restrictions to contain the second wave of the viral infection, the sources said.

Issues like the easing of restrictions and reservation in promotions in government jobs are likely to figure in the cabinet meeting scheduled later on Thursday, they said. The Maharashtra government earlier this month extended the lockdown-like restrictions in the state till June 1 to break the chain of COVID-19.

Pawar underwent the gall bladder surgery at a private hospital in Mumbai last month. Earlier, the NCP president had undergone an emergency endoscopy for the removal of a stone from his bile duct on March 30.