Raut said Sena-UBT has a positive approach towards an alliance with MNS, which is pronounced 'Manase' in Marathi, while attempting to make a wordplay with the party's name.
'Those seeking short-term benefits are joining the Shinde-led Sena and the ones looking at long-term benefits are joining the BJP.'
'Crores of rupees have been spent on paper but nothing has actually happened on the ground.'
'When I felt that the party is drifting away from Hindutva, I tried to speak to Uddhavji. But nobody was ready to listen.'
Uddhavji had said he trusts his MLAs and was confident they will not take such an extreme step, said Ajit Pawar.
'Uddhavji will face the no confidence motion on the floor of the House whenever it happens.'
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
'There is no future for the Shiv Sena under Uddhavji's leadership.'
'Very soon you will hear the news of two more MLAs from Uddhavji's side joining our camp.' 'And once the Supreme Court verdict comes out, there will be a waterfall.'
'Uddhavji has accepted now that the majority of his family wants to ally with the BJP, then we should think about it, but there are issues around how to go about it.'
Keeping in mind the bitter backdrop in which the two Sena factions are likely to come face-to-face with each other on October 5, the Mumbai police, along with the Maharashtra administration, are leaving nothing to chance.
"Hum saath hain (we are together) is the message we want to give," Uddhav said.
'With one fell swoop he (Sharad Pawar) won the sympathies of the NCP workers at the grassroots, his own flock of MLAs and bolstered his position as the NCP chief'
Thackeray on Tuesday announced his party's support for Murmu in the July 18 presidential election.
'We don't know yet if we are forming the next government with the BJP or not.'
Thackeray met the legislators to apprise them of the government formation process and meetings of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party leaders in Delhi.
'Hindutva doesn't teach you to stab someone in the back.'
'His son fought bravely like a true Shiv Sainik and emerged victorious against those whose machinations were to finish the Shiv Sena in the state.'
Raut also highlighted that the party had goodwill toward the opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai, a confidant of Uddhav Thackeray, said the party is now looking to implement the 50:50 formula with its ally the BJP.
After a revolt in the Shiv Sena, party president Uddhav Thackeray was ready to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra if the dissidents dumped rebel leader Eknath Shinde, a proposal that was unacceptable to rebel MLAs and the national saffron outfit, legislator Deepak Kesarkar claimed on Friday.
'The BJP is using its money and muscle power to break the MVA government.'
Beleaguered Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, who was booed off the dais by his party's supporters at a Dussehra rally in October, on Sunday called on party chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence.
'We know how to deal with the BJP if push comes to shove.'
'The margin of victory or loss would make both camps rethink their strategies for the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra.'
"Even Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, during a rally in Kalyan, had said the police were capable of only washing utensils, Fadnavis said.
'The impression that Uddhav saheb is naram (soft or not-so-aggressive), anukool (congenial), manmilau (amiable) is true.' 'But he is Balasaheb's son. So, aggression comes naturally to him.'
'Raut saheb has mentally wired himself to spend some time in ED custody.' 'He knows the risk is huge, but rewards will be bigger if he comes out unscathed.'
'Badle ki bhavna (revengeful politics) was never seen in Maharashtra and Indian politics, but now we are witnessing all that today.'
Congress-NCP-Sena leaders discount reading too much into the meeting between the Maharashtra CM and prime minister.
'As long as Rane is the point-person, the Sena will never revive its partnership with the BJP.'
'The Sena is always ready for any and every eventuality.'
On Uddhav's leadership style, Joshi said, "He is always ready to reply to any question. I found he is open-minded."
Amid signs of a rapprochement, all Shiv Sena MPs will attend the high tea being hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Sunday for the National Democratic Alliance even as Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was "very keen" on forming a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.
After putting to rest speculation that he would take his father's post of "Shiv Sena pramukh," party's executive president Uddhav Thackeray has been named editor of its mouthpiece Saamana.
Despite being an ally of the BJP, Uddhav has been a vocal critic of Modi.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray will be formally elected as party president in the national executive meeting to be held on January 23, party sources said.
"I thought why not the son of a person who had contributed for Maharashtra should become the CM and I insisted Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. Fadnavis had worked with Uddhav so he knows how Uddhav is. He should stop questioning repeatedly about how Uddhav became CM," the NCP chief said.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party seeks the trust vote on the floor of the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena has announced that it will not vote in favour of the BJP's minority government.
Hours after threatening to quit the 'Mahayuti' over 'paltry' allocation of seats for Maharashtra Assembly polls, three smaller partners in Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party led alliance indicated they would stay on following an assurance from Uddhav Thackeray that they will be given a "respectable" number of seats.
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