Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday said PM Narendra Modi has reached where he is today because of Balasaheb Thackeray.However, Raut said that Modi should not be re-elected as the prime minister in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “If he comes back to power, democracy will be over in our country.”He was addressing a rally of UBT supporters in Pune on Saturday wherein he targeted the Centre and state. Raut said Modi could become the PM only because of Balasaheb Thackeray’s blessings.
“Post Gujarat riots in 2002, then Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to remove Modi from the post of chief minister, since the world was criticising him. When Lal Krishna Advani came to meet Balasaheb to seek his opinion, he told Advani not to remove Modi. Balasaheb had told Advani that if Modi goes, Gujarat will also go. However, the time has come now for Modi to go out of power in 2024,” Raut said.Remarking about the assembly election results of five states, Raut said he was shocked with the results in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. “When we visited these states, we did not see any Modi wave. However, the result was different when the votes on the EVM were counted," Raut said, while challenging the BJP to hold at least one election on ballot paper for fair results. The Sena leader claimed that it was expected that the BJP would lose in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh as he did not see “Modi wave” anywhere during the recently held assembly elections.