India, Aug. 9 -- Union home minister Amit Shah met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday to analyse the developments in the state following student protests-which received a sizeable response in Mumbai, Pune, and several other cities-and the ongoing hearings at the Supreme Court (SC) on a slew of petitions filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) following defections of leaders and disputes over the party name and symbol.

The absence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar from the meeting was conspicuous, particularly in the backdrop of her meeting with political strategist Prashant Kishor earlier this week.

A BJP leader aware of the m...