New Delhi (Agency): Sanjay Raut, a leader of Shiv Sena, fired back on Friday, July 14, 2023, at Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, over his use of the term “diplomacy” in describing his party’s decision to ally with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Raut questioned the BJP’s definition of “diplomacy”, especially in light of their reference to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance – formed by the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress in 2019 – as “dishonest.”
“Both Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis spoke about diplomacy yesterday. They said their alliance with NCP is diplomacy, then what was our alliance with NCP and Congress? What was MVA? If you do it, then it is diplomacy and if we do it, it is dishonesty?” Raut challenged.
Raut, who also serves as the spokesperson for Shiv Sena (UBT), further stated that the MVA was created to keep “dishonest” individuals away from power.
He further commented, “You people are dishonest. To keep people like you away from governance, we did the same diplomacy in 2019 like you.”
At a party event, Fadnavis described the BJP’s choice to include the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction as a “diplomacy” to win against those who had betrayed the party. This statement came after some BJP leaders expressed discontent over the inclusion of NCP leaders – previously accused of corruption – into their alliance.
In response, Fadnavis clarified that the BJP shares “an emotional friendship” with the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and a “political friendship” with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP. He also predicted that the NCP will become “an emotional friend” of the BJP over time.
Just a few weeks ago, in an unexpected move, NCP’s Ajit Pawar allied with the Shiv Sena-BJP, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.