Maharashtra Assembly elections: Sanjay Raut bats for declaring opposition MVA's CM face before polls

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Friday emphasised on the need for the opposition bloc MVA to project a chief ministerial face in Maharashtra ahead of the assembly polls, remarks coming after party president Uddhav Thackeray meets with top Congress leaders.

So far, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has refrained from collectively pitching for a CM face in the state where polls are due in October.

Asked if he was pushing for Thackeray's candidature for the top post, Raut avoided a direct reply and maintained that his party president and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have been at the forefront of raising their voice against policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, the Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP said Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, have been constantly raising their voices against the Centre's "oppression".

"There has to be a face for the state (polls). Had Rahul Gandhi been the face (of the opposition) in the Lok Sabha polls, then we could have defeated (the BJP-led NDA). It was only after Rahul Gandhi accepted the Leader of Opposition's post that the country saw some sense of confidence. So a face is needed for the opposition and also for the ruling party," Raut commented.

Asked whether he was implying that Thackeray would be the CM candidate of the MVA, Raut said, "It were only Rahul Gandhi and Uddhav Thackeray who became the face of the opposition (in LS polls)." The MVA consists of the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Raut's remarks come amid Thackeray dropping hints that he was ready to be projected as the CM pick in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

Thackeray was in New Delhi earlier this week where he met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and other INDIA bloc representatives.

"If my colleagues (in MVA) feel that I have done excellent work, then ask them whether they want me as the chief minister. People will decide," Thackeray told reporters in the national capital before meeting the Congress leadership on Wednesday.

Thackeray served as the chief minister of Maharashtra from November 2019 to June 2022 as head of the MVA government before its collapse after a section of his party MLAs, led by current CM Eknath Shinde, revolted against his leadership.