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Sanjay Raut says Shinde-led ‘double standard’ Maharashtra govt will collapse soon
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil should be congratulated for his statement regarding the saffron party choosing Eknath Shinde as the new CM with a “heavy heart”.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday took a swipe on the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra, calling it a “double standard” regime that is “surely not going to last for long”. His statements come a day after Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said that the party picked Shinde - whose rebellion against Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government caused its collapse - as the new chief minister with a “heavy heart”.
“We will not give dates on loudspeakers like the BJP. But this government is surely not going to last for long,” Raut was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
To back his comment, Raut said despite it being almost a month that the Shinde faction-BJP government was formed, no ministerial portfolios have been allocated. “This double-standard government, formed by theft, will collapse under its own contradictions,” the Sena MP said.
Raut also addressed Patil's statement, pointing out that the Maharashtra BJP chief should be congratulated for his remarks.
Patil's comments - made at Maharashtra BJP executive meeting on Saturday - have created ripples as they are being seen as the first sign of discontent in the newly-formed regime in the western state. A colleague, Ashish Shelar, however, said that Patil was only trying to lift the morale of the 800 BJP workers and leaders present at the meeting.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said Patil's statement does not mean the saffron camp does not approve of Shinde as the CM, but shows that it is “not hungry for power”.
“There is nothing wrong in what Patil said. Party workers were expecting a BJP leader-led government. It was a shock for the party workers, but sometimes the party’s leadership needs to think differently. By making Shindeji the CM our party leadership has shown that we are not hungry for power and the allegations levelled by opponents that we pull down governments to install our CM are false,” the former CM of Maharashtra added.
Patil's speech triggered a controversy after a video of him got leaked and was shared widely on social media. A senior BJP leader said it was a closed-door meeting, and it was decided beforehand that only Fadnavis's concluding speech will be recorded and released before the media. The leader added that the Maharashtra BJP chief spoke unaware of being recorded, and how the video got leaked is being probed internally.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis took a veiled dig on Raut at meeting by referring to him as a “loudspeaker” who only brought displeasure to the people of Maharashtra and Sena. The Sena MP has now hit back saying his “loudspeaker was the voice of people of Maharashtra”.
“Even Fadnavis listens to my loudspeaker. We speak fearlessly about what we need to,” Raut was quoted as saying by PTI.
He further stated that the ‘loudspeaker’ has been blaring for the past 56 years and people are always keen on knowing about it.
Earlier in the day, Raut slammed Fadnavis over the "loudspeaker" comment on Twitter by sharing a video of the BJP leader. “Ohhh… loudspeaker,” the Sena MP wrote, adding that "a lie being spoken conveniently is considered truth these days".
