Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said talks on the chief ministerial candidate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls can be held later as its first task is to dislodge the 'corrupt' Mahayuti-led dispensation in the state.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said there was no political angle to the meeting. "Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it," he tweeted.
Sanjay Raut, a key leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, on Monday claimed that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has expressed the desire to quit after the Shiv Sena (UBT) gave a call for a statewide bandh to protest his "insult" to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a claim refuted by the Raj Bhavan.
Raut's reaction came after former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that BJP and Shiv Sena are 'not enemies'.
Raut, however, didn't specify the number of seats the Sena will contest in Bengal.
Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut said Devendra Fadnavis was not eligible to head the Maharashtra home department.
'The CM's credibility is on the line.'
The ED summoned Varsha Raut for questioning in the PMC Bank money laundering case on December 29, officials had said on Sunday.
"A BJP leader had told me that my phone was being tapped. I said if anybody wants to listen to what I am saying I welcome it. I am Balasaheb's chela (disciple), whatever I do, I do it openly," Raut told reporters. "In spite of the phone-tapping, we formed the government in Maharashtra," he said. Raut's remarks come a day after state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that the Fadnavis dispensation misused government machinery to tap the phones of opposition leaders, especially during the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.
The attack on the convoy of Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray in retaliation to a similar incident involving Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray revived the old rivalry between the estranged cousins who claim to champion the cause of Marathi manoos ahead of assembly elections.
'Savarkar's opponents should spend two days in the (erstwhile) Andaman Cellular Jail to understand the hardships he was put through by the British'
Raut also said that all the opposition parties will discuss whether a delegation should be sent to Lakhimpur Kheri.
A Mercedes-Maybach S650 Guard was recently added to the prime minister's cavalcade by the Special Protection Group.
By supporting Ranaut and through its stand in the Sushant case, the BJP wants to win Bihar polls, Raut said.
He is learnt to have discussed the formulation of a joint opposition strategy on the issue of Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the detention of prominent leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
"This whole incident of Waze's activities and controversies thereafter taught a lesson to the MVA government. It was good in a way that it happened and taught us some lessons," the Sena's chief spokesperson said.
Your people are threatening me, still I will come to Mumbai on September 9 Ranaut said.
The future of this alliance would depend on the sacrifice and liberality of the Congress, he said.
The Samajwadi Party announced on Saturday that it would walk out of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi after Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide hailed the demolition of Babri mosque and a related newspaper advertisement.
Special court judge M G Deshpande, who has granted bail to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, terming his arrest as "illegal, without reason and a witch-hunt", had pulled up the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on multiple occasions this year over its approach in dealing with money laundering cases.
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Raut also said the state will never forgive Ajit Pawar for this act of his.
The Sena leader said the protesters are India's own farmers and the government should have a dialogue with them.
Latching on to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that the threat of COVID-19 still persists, Raut said in view of the health concern, it is Thackeray's responsibility to take care of people's safety, and the governor should have rather appreciated the chief minister for doing so diligently.
Raut said he hadn't seen a social media campaign demanding justice for the victim.
Raut told reporters that 'anybody who lives and works here and speaks ill of Mumbai, Maharashtra and Marathi people, I would say (to them to) apologise first, then I will consider apologising'.
'We felt it is our responsibility to stand by the farmers' and extend support of the whole of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray saahab'
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay raut on Sunday admitted that the allegations made by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh against minister Anil Deshmukh, and the Sachin Waze case have tainted the image of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state, and said all allies need to introspect if their feet are on the ground.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance bagged 53 of the 70 assembly seats in the region.
The name of Devendra Fadnavis has been finalised as the new chief minister of Maharashtra who will be elected as the legislature party leader in a meeting to be held either on December 2 or 3, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said on Sunday night.
Raut's remarks came in the wake of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray being recently targeted by the opposition for not moving out of his house during the pandemic. Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Raut said Thackeray has given directives to ensure that Fadnavis, who is leader of opposition in the state Assembly, gets the best treatment.
Days after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party levelled allegations of corruption against some leaders of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party should not be threatened with the use of central agencies and claimed that "three and a half" leaders of BJP will be behind bars in the next few days.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday hit out at the BJP for opposing Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's directive to state police to keep a record of migrants coming here from other states, claiming the BJP was raking up the 'outsider' card with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Mumbai civic elections due next year.
Raut complained of chest pain on Monday following which he underwent angioplasty, a procedure to restore blood flow through the artery.
Asked if he represented views of his party amid the logjam over government formation in the state, Raut said, "I put forth views of Uddhav Thackeray."
Amid standoff with ally its ally -- the Bharatiya Janata Party -- over formation of the next government in Maharashtra, Raut is scheduled to meet with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday evening.
Raut also said the "ongoing Mahabharat" in West Bengal is more fierce than the real Mahabharat.
When asked about his recent altercation with the actor, Raut said the matter is over for him.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday suggested the Opposition needs to come together and strengthen the alliance.
