Eknath Shinde’s claim to remain Maharashtra CM after 2024 polls not truthful: Sanjay Raut

Eknath Shinde’s claim that he would remain Maharashtra chief minister even after the 2024 Assembly polls is not truthful, according to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut. Shinde had reportedly said BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised to retain him as the Maharashtra chief minister if the alliance of the BJP and Shinde’s Sena keeps power in the state.

Shinde’s claim is not truthful as the BJP would not have roped in Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and made him a deputy chief minister if it planned to keep Shinde as the chief minister, said Raut in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ published in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana. Raut also advised Ajit Pawar to form a separate party and fight elections.

In the column, Raut also touched on the repeated meetings between NCP president Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. ”It is in the interest of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar will have to prove his worth in his own esteem. Only then will he be hailed as a leader. He should set up a separate party and fight elections. If Ajit Pawar follows what Shinde is doing with BJP’s help, then his politics will collapse in no time. Because in politics, bridges matter and not forts made of sand,” he said.