PM Modi, Shah betrayed Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena: Sanjay Raut

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) or Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of betraying Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. He also expressed confidence on Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance winning 160 to 170 seats.

Reacting to the statement made by Union Home Shah during an election rally in Mumbai, Raut accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah of betraying and selling Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena.

"You praised him a lot once. But Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi betrayed Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. Tell us about that. You sold Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. First, you bought it and then you sold it to (Eknath) Shinde. You have no right to utter the name of Balasaheb Thackeray. We know who Balasaheb Thackeray is (for us). We also know what you are. You sold our party to an individual like Eknath Shinde who had nothing to do with the formation of Shiv Sena. You sold it to him because he could break off our MLAs. There is no need to show this fake love," Raut said.

 

Meanwhile, taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Raut said that the surveys shouldn't be trusted because a survey had come out during Lok Sabha polls where they said BJP would win more than 400 seats.

"We (MVA) will win 160-170 seats...Don't trust the surveys that are coming in. A similar survey had come out during Lok Sabha elections too, it said '400 paar' for PM Modi," said Raut.

Raut's reaction comes after Union HM Shah challenged Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to ask Rahul Gandhi to praise Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

"I want to ask Uddhav Thackeray from this stage. Can he ask Rahul Gandhi to say something good about Veer Savarkar? Can any Congress leader speak something to honour Balasaheb Thackeray? This is an internal (ideological) difference. People of Maharashtra should take note of such contradictions in the MVA alliance," Shah said while addressing an election rally in Mumbai.

Shah also accused Thackeray of being with those leaders who opposed the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and insulted Veer Savarkar.

"Uddhav ji, I can't decide where you sit. But I want to tell you that you're sitting with those who opposed the abrogation of Article 370. You're sitting with those who opposed the construction of Ram Janambhoomi temple. You're sitting with those who speak ill of Savarkar. You're sitting with those who opposed CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and UCC (Uniform Civil Code)," the Union Home Minister said.