India, Aug. 25 -- Days after Shivaji Sawant, district 'samparkpramukh' of Solapur, quit the Shiv Sena, party president and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde reached out to his elder brother, former health minister Tanaji Sawant, who had been sulking for months over not being accommodated in the state cabinet.

On Saturday, Shinde telephoned Sawant and summoned him to Mumbai for a one-on-one meeting. The closed-door interaction at Shinde's residence lasted nearly two hours, after which the former minister is believed to have softened his stance.

The outreach came against the backdrop of Shivaji Sawant's exit and his reported move towards the BJP. He had recently met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, fuelling speculation that his elder b...