Sanjay Raut
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray is praising the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as he is worried about his son Amit Thackeray.
Amit Thackeray is making his electoral debut as MNS candidate from Mahim in Mumbai in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
On Wednesday, Raj Thackeray said the MNS and BJP would come together after the polls, and the next chief minister will be from the BJP.
"One can understand the frame of mind of a person whose son is contesting an election. Someone who once said the BJP should be driven out of Maharashtra and Amit Shah and Narendra Modi should not be allowed to enter the state is now singing praises of the BJP," Raut told reporters here.
"Raj Thackeray knows that Maharashtra will have the chief minister from the (Opposition's) Maha Vikas Aghadi," Raut added.
Notably, Raj had campaigned against the BJP during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Later, he changed his stand.
While the BJP has declared support to Amit Thackeray, the contest is triangular, involving the BJP ally Shiv Sena's Sadanand Sarvankar and opposition Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Mahesh Sawant.
Sarvankar has said he will stay in the fray. The last day for withdrawal is November 4.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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