Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tried to defeat Union minister Nitin Gadkari in the Nagpur constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
“Gadkari yancha Nagpurat parabhav vhava yasathi Modi, Shah, Fadnavis ekatra ale, prayatna kele (To ensure Gadkari’s defeat in Nagpur, Modi, Shah and Fadnavis came together and made attempts),” the MP wrote in his weekly column in the Sena mouthpiece, Saamna.
Raut further wrote that Fadnavis campaigned for Gadkari only when it became apparent that the Union minister was not going to be defeated.“Parabhav hoot nahi yachi khatri patlyawar Fadnavis hey nailajani Nagpurat pracharala utarle… (When it became evident Gadkari was not going to get defeated, Fadnavis had no option but to campaign for him)”.
Raut, who is the executive editor of Saamna, has also alleged in his column that “if Amit Shah gets power again, he will finish Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In Uttar Pradesh the campaign is, he wrote, “Yogi ko bachana hain tau Modi ko jana hain (If you have to save Yogi Adityanath, Modi has to go)”.The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader’s claims have invited strong reactions from the state BJP which rubbished them as absurd