Without specifying the timeline, Mr. Raut at a press conference in Mumbai, claimed that Mr. Shinde had connected with Ahmed Patel, the late Congress leader and political secretary to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday (March 15, 2025) said that Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had in the past wanted to join the Congress party.
Without specifying the timeline, Mr. Raut at a press conference in Mumbai, claimed that Mr. Shinde had connected with Ahmed Patel, the late Congress leader and political secretary to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Patel passed away on November 25, 2020.
“I am quite aware of everything that was happening back then. I am refraining from spilling more details because Ahmed Patel is no more among us today to substantiate this. You can ask the senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan about it,” Mr. Raut said.
Mr. Shinde’s close aide and Thane MP Naresh Mhaske rubbished Mr. Raut’s claim. “It looks like yesterday’s (Holi) bhang (intoxicant) hangover has not subsided for Sanjay Raut because he seems to make such baseless claims every day. Even Prithviraj Chavan has denied that Mr. Shinde was going to join the Congress,” Mr. Mhaske said.
If Mr. Raut had been aware that Mr. Shinde intended to join the Congress, why was Mr. Shinde made the Urban Development Minister in the then Uddhav Thackeray government, Mr. Mhaske asked. “Is Uddhav Thackray afraid after losing the [Maharashtra Assembly] election, so he and his team leaders are making desperate attempts to be relevant?” he said.
“They (Shiv Sena-UBT leaders) are afraid of seeing Mr. Shinde’s popularity and his good work,” Mr. Mhaske added.
At a Holi celebration on Friday, former Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole caused a flutter with his offer to Deputy Chief Ministers Mr. Shinde and Ajit Pawar to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Opposition alliance, promising rotational stints of the Chief Minister’s post, and adding, “Anything is possible in politics.”
Mr. Raut said Mr. Patole’s statement had left him “speechless”. “The only thing I can say is that nothing is impossible in politics. No one had imagined that the Maha Vikas Aghadi would be formed in 2019 or an ‘unconstitutional’ government would take charge in 2022 or that Devendra Fadnavis would get an absolute majority in 2024. Everything is unpredictable in politics. Eknath Shinde had nothing to do with the saffron flag of Balasaheb Thackeray, yet he and Ajit Pawar (who split Nationalist Congress Party in 2023) are carrying the flags of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party),” Mr. Raut said.
During the press conference, Mr. Raut also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should watch the film Chhava, based on Sambhaji Maharaj. “Nobody can tell what PM Modi’s mindset is. He has marketed a lot of films that align with his party’s agenda, be it The Tashkent Files, The Kashmir Files, Chhaava, or The Accidental Prime Minister. If M.S. Golwalkar presented his views on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, it is Mr. Modi’s responsibility to watch the movie and claim what Golwalkar wrote was wrong,” Mr. Raut said.
Mr. Raut’s statement came in response to a question on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi allegations against Chhaava. “The worst words for Sambhaji Maharaj were used by late RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) leader M. S. Golwalkar in his book Bunch of Thoughts. Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar also used the worst words for Sambhaji Maharaj,” Mr. Owaisi had said.
Published – March 15, 2025 10:14 pm IST