Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut met in Mumbai on Saturday. The meeting between the duo prompted speculation in Maharashtra's political circles.
Raut and Fadnavis met at a suburban hotel in Mumbai.
Amidst the speculations over the meet, leader of opposition in the state legislative council Pravin Darekar has now informed that the meeting between Fadnavis and Raut was non-political.
Darekar also informed that Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye has also reiterated that there was no political angle to the meeting. "Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for Saamana (the Sena mouthpiece) and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it," he tweeted.
"Fadnavis has informed Raut that he would grant Raut the interview after returning from poll campaigning in Bihar, and there are no political connotations to the meeting," Upadhye said.
Upadhye also mentioned that Fadnavis wants the interview to be unedited and thus decided to meet Raut.
The meet surprised many as Raut and Fandanavis often criticise each other on many occasions.
In 2019, assembly elections, Shiv Sena and BJP contested the polls as allies. However, after their disagreement over the power-sharing formula, Shiv Sena formed the government with the NCP and Congress as the new alliance partners.
During the developments ahead of MVA government formation and even after that Sanjay Raut often made headlines for his anti-BJP stance and thus when he met the former CM today, many were surprised.
(with inputs from Sanjay Jog of Free Press Journal)
