Sanjay Raut slams Ajit Pawar’s decision to join Eknath Shinde government

Sanjay Raut, the leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, reaffirmed his allegation on Monday that Ajit Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, who had just been sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, would shortly succeed Eknath Shinde.

Raut also said that 16 MLAs who were part of the split in Shiv Sena almost a year ago are going to be disqualified.

“Today I am saying this in front of the camera, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is going to change. Eknath Shinde is being removed. Eknath Shinde and the 16 MLAs are going to be disqualified,” Raut said while talking to the reporters.

Raut’s remark came after NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra and took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday. Raut further said that Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress will fight unitedly in Maharashtra.

“BJP is breaking Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress but this will not benefit them at all. In Maharashtra, we will fight unitedly. It is shocking that PM Modi had said that the leaders of NCP are involved in corruption and now those leaders have taken oath in Raj Bhawan,” Raut said.

In June 2022, a group of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray – saying that the latter’s decision to align with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party went against the party’s Hindutva ideology.