Congress leader and Maharashtra Energy Minister Dr Nitin Raut, on Saturday, ruled out Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) success in carrying out Operation Lotus in the state on the lines of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Instead, he said the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, is quite stable and it will complete its five-year tenure.
Dr Raut led a scathing attack against the former CM Devendra Fadnavis, saying that he won't succeed in toppling the MVA government in the state. Dr Raut's criticism came a day after Fadnavis met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Although Fadnavis, and other party leaders, claimed the Delhi visit was to take up sugar industry issues, the timing was crucial, especially with Congress and BJP being engaged in a war of words over the survival of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s government in Rajasthan after an audio tape came to the fore involving the union minister and now suspended Congress legislator.
''The MVA government is strong. CM is doing a great job and Congress legislators are quite happy. The government will complete its term, as Fadnavis and BJP will never succeed in their plan to topple the government,'' said Dr Raut.
On the political development in Rajasthan, Dr Raut alleged that BJP had hatched a conspiracy to topple the Congress government, but it has miserably failed.
Dr Raut's blistering attack comes close on the heels of another Congress minister Yashomati Thakur, who had said that a lot of BJP legislators were in touch and ready to migrate. “Some of the 105 BJP legislators were in touch with the Congress. If their names are revealed, there will be an earthquake in state politics,’’ she warned.
Thakur hit out at the BJP over its ‘lust for power’ and ‘dirty politics.’ She further said that Maharashtra has given a new formula to the country and added that the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was stable.
Thakur criticised Fadnavis, saying that he was surrounded by people who are outsiders. She was referring to the leaders, who had quit the Congress and the NCP and joined BJP ahead of the state assembly polls held last year.
