No third front without Congress, says Sanjay Raut

Sanjay Raut spoke to reporters a day after Telangana CM met Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar in a bid to bring together like-minded parties against the BJP at the national level.

Nagpur (Maharashtra):Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, on Monday, said there won't be any third front without Congress. He was speaking to reporters a day after Telangana CM met Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar in a bid to bring together like-minded parties against the BJP at the national level.

When asked about the exclusion of Congress from the front Ruat said, "We never said that there will not be any front without Congress. Last time, when the same thing was said by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena was the first party who said that the Congress party equally needs to be included in the front. We have been telling this repeatedly."

Ruat also said Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has the "ability to lead taking all together." Lavishing praise on the Telangana chief minister, Raut said, "K Chandrasekhar Rao is a very hard-working leader. He faced a lot of struggles in his political life. He has the ability to lead taking all together."

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During their meeting on 20 February 2022, Rao, who heads the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Shiv Sena president Thackeray discussed the development and the country's political situation, he said. The two CMs and other political leaders will soon meet again, the Shiv Sena's spokesperson said.

Asked about the BJP targeting its political opponents amid the ongoing UP elections, Raut said, "It is their habit. They make such statements when they are losing. The BJP is losing in Uttar Pradesh."

To a query on some remarks made by Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil as well as his claim that Raut was trying to weaken the Shiv Sena, the Rajya Sabha member said, "He need not give us any advice, he should manage his own party which is going down every day."

Raut also claimed that the BJP will get defeated in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls which are currently underway.

(With agency inputs)