Shiv Sena (UBT) to go it alone in local bodies polls, says Raut

PTI, Jan 11, 2025, 11:51 AM IST

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said his party will contest the upcoming elections to the various local bodies alone.

Talking to reporters, the Rajya Sabha MP said the INDIA bloc and Maha Vikas Aghadi alliances were for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

“In an alliance, workers of individual parties don’t get opportunities, and it hampers organisational growth. We will contest polls to the Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and other municipal corporations, zilla parishads and panchayats on our strength,” he said.

He said party chief Uddhav Thackeray gave the party indications that it should go alone.

Hitting out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the MVA’s defeat in the state assembly, Raut said those who don’t believe in consensus and compromise have no right to be in an alliance.

He further claimed that the INDIA bloc did not hold a single meeting after the Lok Sabha elections.

“We were not able to appoint even a convenor for INDIA bloc. It isn’t good. As the largest party of the alliance, it was the Congress’s responsibility to convene a meeting,” the Sena (UBT) leader said.

Reacting to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s remark that he has never mentioned farm loan waivers in his speeches, Raut said, “Even if he hasn’t spoken about it. Farm loan waiver and Rs 2,100 for Laadki Bahin beneficiaries are mentioned in the BJP’s poll manifesto. These two promises have to be implemented. He is the finance minister in the BJP government, and he will have to do it.” To a query on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during his first podcast that he is human and can make mistakes, Raut said, “He (Modi) is god. I don’t consider him a human. God is god. If someone declares him an incarnation of god, how can he be a human? He is the 13th avatar of Vishnu. If someone who has been considered god says he is human, something is wrong. There is chemical ‘locha’.”