The war of words between former allies Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party has escalated. After Union home minister Amit Shah denied any promises were made to Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has circulated a video clip of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis where he said “posts and responsibilities” will be shared equally. Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the party is not helpless for power to lie on what transpired in the close door meeting between Shah and Uddhav Thackeray in Sena’s former chief late Bal Thackeray’s room.
Shah, who visited Sindhudurg on Sunday, reiterated that he never promised Shiv Sena that it would share the chief ministership for an equal term. “They [Thackeray] say I had promised them about it in a closed-door meeting at Matoshree. I never do anything behind [closed] doors. Everything is done in daylight... Modiji and I had declared Devendraji [Fadnavis] as the next CM after the [2019] Assembly polls. Why did Thackeray, who used to share the dais with us, not object to it then?” he questioned.
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Shah, who was the BJP national president when the alliance between Sena-BJP was renegotiated ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, had also said that Thackeray compromised Bal Thackeray’s principles for power.
Countering that charge, Raut told news agency ANI, “Our lives have been dedicated to that room (Bal Thackeray’s room). Nobody would believe that Uddhav Thackeray would come out and lie about what was discussed in that room. We are not helpless for power that Uddhav Thackery or anybody else would lie about what transpired in the room.” He added that he can understand the pain of the BJP for not being able to form the government in Maharashtra despite having 105 MLAs, power at the Centre, and control over central agencies.
{{/usCountry}}Countering that charge, Raut told news agency ANI, “Our lives have been dedicated to that room (Bal Thackeray’s room). Nobody would believe that Uddhav Thackeray would come out and lie about what was discussed in that room. We are not helpless for power that Uddhav Thackery or anybody else would lie about what transpired in the room.” He added that he can understand the pain of the BJP for not being able to form the government in Maharashtra despite having 105 MLAs, power at the Centre, and control over central agencies.
{{/usCountry}}In an apparent swipe at the BJP leadership, Raut also tweeted a couplet in Hindi on Monday morning, “Toofan zyada ho to kashti doob jaati hai... Aur ghamand zyada ho toh hastiyaan doob jaati hai.”