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The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena on Tuesday ended their feud and decided to continue their alliance that suffered jolts in the presidential elections in July.
"We have decided to continue our alliance," alliance sources said after senior BJP leader Lal Kishenchand Advani hosted lunch for Shiv Sena executive president Udhav Thackeray at his residence in Delhi.
The meeting came almost two months after the Shiv Sena broke ranks with the BJP and voted for United Progressive Alliance-Left presidential candidate Pratibha Patil.
The BJP has set in motion the process to explore new alliance options and step up efforts to keep the NDA intact for any possible snap election.
Shiv Sena leaders Manohar Joshi and the BJP's Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari, who have been asking their party's central leadership to snap ties with its alliance partner, were present in the meeting that lasted less than half-an-hour.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said all was well between the BJP and Shiv Sena.
Udhav had been invited by L K Advani for lunch to work out the differences between the two parties.
"Sab log khush hain, (Everyone is happy)" Rajnath told newsmen waiting outside the residence of leader of opposition.
Incidentally, all the catering work was entrusted to the caterers who run Parliament canteen.
The meeting started around 1.13 in the afternoon with a photo-opportunity for camera-persons.
Additional Reportage: PTI