New Delhi: Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said: “It needs 100 births” to understand what Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar says.
The Sena MP was replying to a question on the NCP chief’s virtual about-turn on the question of Maharashtra government formation by three parties — Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP — on Monday at a media briefing at his residence in the national capital.
“You don’t worry about Pawar and our alliance. Very soon, by early-December, a Shiv Sena-led alliance government will be in power in Maharashtra. It will be a stable government,” Raut said.
He said that there are no doubts in the Sena on the government formation, “but it is the media which is harbouring confusion over it”.
On Pawar, Raut said he had discussed the condition of Maharashtra farmers with the NCP chief on Monday night.
“What’s wrong if (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi had praised Pawar? Earlier, Modi had publicly admitted that Pawar is his political ‘guru’. So, don’t read any politics in this,” Raut said.
Taking a swipe at its former ally, he said that by snapping ties with Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party has lost its oldest and biggest ally.
“It was Sena which built up the BJP in Maharashtra, gave them seats and accommodated them always. But, now the BJP has changed the seating arrangements of Sena MPs in Parliament and they will pay for it,” Raut said.
He said in the recent past, Sena was reluctant for an alliance with the BJP, but “it came about only because BJP President Amit Shah landed in Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s residence ‘Matoshri’ and raised the issue of partnership in the state”.
The Sena-BJP had fought the Lok Sabha and later the assembly elections together.
However, in the assembly elections, the Sena insisted on the post of CM to it and also on equitable power-sharing, but the BJP rejected the Sena arguments.
The Sena is currently negotiating an alliance with Congress-NCP even as it has been allotted seating in the opposition benches.