Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday hit out at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for raising questions over Uddhav Thackeray not attending the recently concluded Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj.
Talking to reporters, Raut also criticised Shinde’s political acumen and said the BJP should train the deputy CM on how to ask questions.
Because of Shinde’s blunders, the BJP and its leaders are getting “exposed” more than Uddhav Thackeray, the Rajya Sabha member claimed.
Shinde’s Shiv Sena is a constituent of the BJP-led ruling Mahayuti in the state.
The Maha Kumbh was held at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh from January 13 to February 26.
On Shinde targeting Sena (UBT) head and former CM Uddhav Thackeray for not attending the Maha Kumbh, Raut said, “Shinde should ask this question first to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. If Bhagwat, as a Hindu, has not visited the Kumbh to take a dip, why target Uddhav Thackeray?”
Raut also said he had never seen pictures of RSS founder Dr K B Hedgewar, or previous Sangh chiefs like M S Golwalkar, Balasaheb Deoras, Rajju Bhaiyya and K Sudarshan attending any Kumbh in the country. Even (Hindutva ideologue) Vinayak Damodar Savarkar never visited (Kumbh fair), he said.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Raut said, “Did Modi ever visit any earlier Kumbh before becoming the PM? This is just a publicity stunt.”
PM Modi had taken a holy dip at the Maha Kumbh last month.
Raut further said that while Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended the Maha Kumbh last month, how many of his cabinet colleagues or MLAs went there.
“Leave aside such issues,” the Sena (UBT) leader added.
Meanwhile, Raut in his weekly column Rokhthok in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Sunday claimed Deputy CM Eknath Shinde met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Pune on February 22 early morning to complain about CM Fadnavis.
The meeting took place at a hotel in Koregaon Park in Pune and Shinde, who is a “leader of 57 MLAs”, had to stay awake till 4 am to meet Shah, he further claimed.
“He (Shinde) complained to Shah that he is not being given his due in the new government and all decisions taken by him as CM in the previous government are being overturned,” Raut charged.
Raut claimed that Shinde wants to merge the “robbed” Shiv Sena into the BJP to become CM again.
In June 2022, Shinde had led a rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and split in the Shiv Sena.
Last month, Amit Shah chaired the 27th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Pune.
Asked about his claim of Shinde’s meeting with Amit Shah to complain about Fadnavis, Raut told reporters, “Shinde should publicly deny that he met Shah and clarify his stand instead of speaking in riddles.”
“Even Fadnavis knows the details of what Shinde told Shah and how he complained to Shah against Fadnavis,” he claimed.
Asked how he knew such details of the meeting, Raut said, “Senior politicians always ensure such things come out when they want people to know about it.”
To a question on the Maharashtra legislature’s budget session set to begin from Monday, Raut said the Shiv Sena (UBT) will stake its claim for the post of the leader of opposition (LoP) in the assembly.
“We have even finalised the name. Even if our numbers are less, there is no law or provision in the Constitution that says the House should function without an LoP,” he said.
Disclaimer: This is a syndicated feed. The article is not edited by the FPJ editorial team.
