A day after his “secret” meeting with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena’s deputy Sanjay Raut said on Sunday that he met with the BJP leader to discuss certain issues. Raut added that there could be ideological differences between Shiv Sena and BJP but the leaders of the two parties are not enemies of each other.
On Saturday, Raut met with Fadnavis for about two hours at a luxury hotel in Mumbai. The meeting made headlines as it was the first time that senior leaders of Shiv Sena and the BJP met after the severance of ties between the two allies in 2019.
Yesterday I met with Devendra Fadnavis to discuss certain issues. He is a former CM and leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra and Bihar polls in charge of the BJP. There may be ideological differences but we are not enemies. There are no personal disputes to resolve. Meetings between the ruling and opposition sides continue to take place. When we were in power with the BJP, I used to know Pawar saheb, ”Raut said.
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Fadnavis said that it is wrong to attribute political significance to the meeting, adding that the BJP does not plan to join with Shiv Sena to return to power in Maharashtra. “Do not attribute anything political to this meeting. We are in no rush to return to power. The BJP has established itself as an aggressive opposition party, taking up the cause of the people very effectively, ”he told the media.
Fadnavis claimed that the combined Sena-Congress-NCP government of Maha Vikas Aghadi would fall by itself and that the BJP does not need to do anything to remove them from power. “We (the BJP) are in no rush. The MVA will fall due to its own contradictions. We’ll see what to do when that happens. There is no reason to discuss the formation of an (alternative) government with the Sena in the BJP, ”he said.
The BJP leader said he went to meet with Raut to discuss an interview for Sena spokesman Saamana, of which Shiv Sena’s deputy is the executive editor. “Raut wanted to interview me. The meeting was to discuss the interview. I put the condition that the entire interview was not edited. And when you interview, we will also have our camera to record the interview. Therefore, we decided to meet and discuss how the interview should proceed, ”said Fadnavis.
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