Amid the Shiv Sena's efforts to form government in Maharashtra with the support of the NCP and Congress, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday accused Union home minister and BJP chief Amit Shah of keeping Prime Minister Narendra Modi in dark.
According to Hindustan Times, Raut accused Shah of keeping PM Modi in dark about the power-sharing agreement he had discussed with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. This comes after Amit Shah's interview where he slammed the Sena for not speaking up when Prime Minister Modi repeatedly spoke about Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister of Maharashtra during the campaign for the assembly elections.
“Even Uddhav Thackeray was saying that there would be the chief minister from the Shiv Sena. Why did the BJP not object then? We have the highest respect for Modi and it would have been insulting had we contradicted his statements. It seems that Amit Shah had not apprised Modi of what was agreed in the meeting,” Sanjay Raut told the Hindustan Times.
The 57-year-old firebrand Sena leader also tweeted a motivational Hindi couplet, saying, "Haar ho jaati hai jab maan liya jaata hai, jeet tab hoti hai jab thaan liya jaata hai" (defeat happens when one accepts it, victory happens when one is determined). Raut on Wednesday also posted a message on Twitter to indicate tough path ahead for his party in its efforts to form government in Maharashtra with the Congress and NCP, which were its ideological rivals till recently.
He has of late also been hitting out at the BJP through his Twitter posts. After the Assembly poll results in Maharashtra were declared on October 24, Raut led the Sena's charge to seek equal share in power with the BJP, leading to falling apart of the nearly three-decade-old saffron alliance. The Shiv Sena, which espouses the Hindutva ideology, is trying to find a common ground with the Congress and NCP in its attempt to cobble-up a government in Maharashtra, which is under President's rule since Tuesday.
(Inputs from Agencies)
