Controversial Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut took a sly dig at Shinde camp by calling the Thackeray faction as being the “real” Shiv Sena while reacting to the Kasba Peth bypoll results. Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Raut said BJP’s bastions were safe only till the “real Shiv Sena” was with it, and now the Thackeray faction will breach every BJP stronghold.Raut also credited Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar’s win in Pune’s Kasba Peth assembly bypoll to his party and Aaditya Thackeray’s mega road show.
BJP used to win the seat only with the help of the real Shiv Sena. Without our support, BJP has been decimated in its bastion. We will break into more BJP bastions in the future with the support of other MVA constituents. The Kasba result shows that MVA is marching ahead strongly,” said Raut.Raut further said Aaditya Thackeray’s mega roadshow helped galvanise support for Dhangekar. “The chief minister, the deputy CM and a battery of cabinet ministers tried to leverage all kinds of influence in the bypoll. But our leader, Aaditya Thackeray, held a mega roadshow and a large number of people turned up for it. This shows that the support for the real Sena is growing,” he said. He added that BJP’s Chinchwad bypoll win is more to do with the trust people have bestowed on the late Sangram Jagtap’s family. Despite the sentiment factor, the MVA candidate gave a tough fight there,” said Raut.Raut said if his party contests assembly elections alone, it will win more than 150 seats.
In the bypoll to Pimpri-Chinchwad, BJP’s Ashwini Jagtap wins the seat with a lead of over 36,000 votes over nearest rival Nana Kate of NCP and is all set to become the firstwomanMLAto represent the industrial city in the Maharashtra Assembly. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar has won Kasba assembly seat in the BJP bastion.