New Delhi: Shiv Sena (Uddhav) Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Thursday fired shots at Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole for resigning from the post of Assembly Speaker. Raut termed Patole’s resignation as a conspiracy and alleged that opposition got a chance to topple the MVA govt because of it. “The post of Assembly Speaker is a very imp post. The manner in which Nana Patole resigned from that post, the opposition got a chance to topple our govt. It was a conspiracy. If Nana Patole had not resigned, our government would have continued even today,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
A section of MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena, led by then-Cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, had rebelled against Thackeray’s leadership in June last year, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government. The rebel MLAs then teamed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government under Shinde’s leadership.
The relationship between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress has always been strained. Several leaders of both parties take swipe at each other over a host of issues.
The post of Assembly Speaker is a very imp post. The manner in which Nana Patole resigned from that post, the opposition got a chance to topple our govt. It was a conspiracy. If Nana Patole had not resigned, our government would have continued even today: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/dJCFxja8Hf— ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2023
Earlier in November, Sanjay Raut distanced himself from Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Savarkar and warned “giving such a statement can cause strife in MVA.” “We consider Veer Savarkar as a reverential figure,” Raut said.
Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has an alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.