Sanjay Raut meets Sharad Pawar after call for going solo in local polls; slams Shah for Manipur, betrayal remarks

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut met with Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Monday amid doubts over the opposition MVA coalition's future after the former announced going solo in the local body elections in Maharashtra.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Raut slammed Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah for his critical remarks on Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray made during his visit to Maharashtra on Sunday.

"Shah is ignoring Manipur," Raut said, referring to the ethnic violence in the north-eastern state, which has killed more than 250 persons and has seen thousands of houses being torched.

"Shah spoke about betrayal by Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray. But of the 22 BJP leaders on the stage (at the Shirdi convention), 18 had betrayed their own parties to join the BJP. Nearly 80 per cent of the BJP's cabinet ministers and 40 per cent of its MLAs have a history of betrayal," Raut alleged.

The BJP's very foundation in Maharashtra is built on betrayal, and yet Shah lectures others on loyalty, the Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP said.

"Instead of speaking about betrayal, Shah should focus on what is happening in places like Beed and Parbhani in Maharashtra. As Union Home Minister, it is his duty to address these issues, but he has chosen to ignore them," said Raut.

Raut also dismissed Shah's claims that the BJP's electoral success had ended the politics of betrayal in Maharashtra.

"The BJP could not accept its victory humbly. We will reveal, at the right time, how Maharashtra favoured Shah's rise," Raut claimed.

Sources revealed that the meeting at Pawar's Silver Oak residence, which lasted for 20 to 25 minutes, focused on the future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the upcoming municipal, zilla parishad and nagar parishad elections in the state.

Raut's statement about his party contesting the local body polls independently has raised questions over the unity of the MVA, which consists of the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and Congress.

Asked what transpired during the meeting with Pawar, Raut did not saying anything about the opposition alliance or its future going forward, and maintained they discussed Shah's visit to the state and his critical comments on MVA leaders.

"Pawar saheb is our leader in the MVA and the INDIA bloc. We discussed Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent visit to Maharashtra and comments he made about Pawar saheb and Uddhav Thackeray. I felt the need to meet Pawar saheb to understand the background of these statements," said the Rajya Sabha MP.

Shah had slammed Pawar and Thackeray during his speech on Sunday at a state BJP convention in the temple town of Shirdi.

Shah may not have been in politics when Pawar had connections with Jan Sangh, Raut said.

"Shah is a BJP leader, not a national leader. He should do research about the relations between BJP and (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray in the past. Instead of commenting on Pawar saheb, Shah should visit Solapur's Markadwadi to understand irregularities his party committed there," said the Sena (UBT) leader.

Last month, residents of Markadwadi village announced plans to conduct a “repoll” using ballot papers, and raised doubts about reliability of EVMs. However, their plans were thwarted by authorities.

Addressing the convention, Shah said Pawar played politics of "betrayal and treachery" in Maharashtra from 1978 onwards, but this was ended by the BJP's massive victory in the assembly polls in November last year.

Shah said the people of Maharashtra showed Pawar and and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray "their place" by rejecting the politics of dynasty and betrayal in the assembly polls.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Raut said, "We will contest independently from Nagpur to Mumbai. Let us see what happens. Our workers must be given opportunities to strengthen the party. If workers are not given chances, the party's growth suffers. All parties should contest local elections independently and support their workers." The MVA suffered a massive setback in the last assembly elections, winning just 46 seats in the 288-member house.