Mumbai (Maharashtra): Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that they were Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar is undeterred by the split in his party and can start afresh.
Raut's remarks came shortly after a dramatic coup in Maharashtra political circles which saw NCP leader Ajit Pawar leaving the party with at least 30 other MLAs to join the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister, a berth he would share with Devendra Fadnavis.
Also read:Maharashtra coup | NCP breaks, MVA jolted: Ajit Pawar takes oath as deputy chief minister
Raut in a tweet said, "I just spoke with NCP Sharad Pawar. He said he is firm and people's support is behind us. We can make a fresh start with Uddhav Thackeray." According to Raut, the people of Maharashtra will not tolerate such a "circus", referring to government formation through vertical splits in political parties, for long.
"Some people seem to be determined to completely spoil Maharashtra's politics. Let them proceed on their chosen path," said Raut, in an apparent reference to Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"We already knew that this was going to happen. Eknath Shinde and the 16 MLAs that went with him will be disqualified. Maharashtra will get another Chief Minister in a few days," added Sanjay Raut.
Uddhav Thackeray faction leader and spokesperson Anand Dubey said, "The leaders who were in the opposition and used to criticise the government until yesterday, have joined the same government today. Today BJP wanted Ajit Pawar, so they took him, but we should not forget that BJP has a history to stab in the back".
