Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra is temporary and will not last long. “It (the alliance of BJP and Shinde faction) is a temporary arrangement. They will not be able to go to the people. He was a lion in Shiv Sena. Kasab also did not have that much security but when he reached Mumbai he had. What are you afraid of,” said Sanjay Raut.
It (the alliance of BJP and Shinde faction) is a temporary arrangement, they will not be able to go to the people. He was a lion in Shiv Sena. Kasab also did not have that much security but when he reached Mumbai he had. What are you afraid of?: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/Nl3JBL3wJP— ANI (@ANI) 4 July 2022
The flamboyant Shiv Sena leader said this despite Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s victory in the trust vote proceedings in the Maharashtra Assembly. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde won the trust vote by a margin of 164-99 and 3 members abstained from voting in the assembly.
Raut also questioned the legitimacy of the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and said the group cannot claim to be the original army.
He said that his party Shiv Sena will not be weakened by these developments. “Our oxygen is not power. We are not strong because we are in power, we are strong and that’s why we are in power. People come and go. They chose to join our party and left because of external forces We will go to the villages, find other workers,” said Raut.
Talking to reporters in Delhi, Raut said that these MLAs (of the Shinde group) should ask themselves some questions. He used the party symbol and all the benefits that came with it to win the election and then broke the same party.
“We will definitely fight it in court. If Shinde faction left Shiv Sena, how can they claim that their group is parent party and not Uddhav Thackeray-led. The name Thackeray is synonymous with Shiv Sena.” Rajya Sabha member said.
Raut said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had suspended JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav for defying the party’s order not to attend an event. “The program was not even in Parliament, but still they had to face action,” the chief spokesperson of the Shiv Sena claimed.
“However, such a rule does not apply to us when we expect similar action against 16 MLAs out of 39 (of Shinde faction). Is it fair,” he asked. He said that when a decision is given according to the convenience of an individual or a party, it is not a parliamentary democracy.
In a jolt to former CM Uddhav Thackeray ahead of the floor test of the Eknath Shinde-led government, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar reinstated Shinde as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party by replacing Ajay Chaudhary.
Narvekar also recognized the appointment of Bharat Gogawale from the Shinde camp as chief whip of the Shiv Sena, removing Sunil Prabhu, who is from the Thackeray faction.