Sanjay Raut has said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar would soon replace Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena leader also mentioned that 16 MLAs who had previously split from Shiv Sena would face disqualification. These remarks followed Ajit Pawar’s joining of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and subsequent swearing-in as deputy chief minister.
“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 told ANI.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to Raut, brought in Ajit Pawar as part of their crisis management strategy due to the imminent disqualification of the 16 MLAs. Raut asserted that Ajit Pawar would eventually replace Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He also stated that the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress would fight together in the state.
“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,” ANI quoted Raut as saying.
The split within the Shiv Sena occurred in June 2022 when a group of MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to form an alliance with the Congress and NCP. This rebellion caused a division within the party.
Following Ajit Pawar’s swearing-in as Deputy Chief Minister, Raut had previously mentioned that Maharashtra would soon have another Chief Minister, alluding to the anticipated removal of Eknath Shinde and the disqualification of the 16 MLAs.
(With ANI inputs)
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Updated: 03 Jul 2023, 11:46 AM IST