Maharashtra: 'Maharashtra will soon get a third deputy chief minister', Sanjay Raut's big attack on Shinde faction

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has made a big claim about Maharashtra politics. He launched a big attack on Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He said that people have stood with the BJP due to fear of ED, and CBI. You will see that Maharashtra will soon get a third Deputy Chief Minister. This will be from the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena.

On the question related to Uddhav Thackeray's faction being called weak, he said that those making similar allegations should worry about themselves. They are supporting the ruling party due to fear. They are working at the behest of Delhi. Power comes and goes, but we are standing strong here.

Earlier, Sanjay Raut had targeted BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had said, 'I doubt whether the central government will survive after 2026 or not. I think Modi will not complete his term and once the central government becomes unstable, it will also affect Maharashtra.' Speaking to reporters, Sanjay Raut dismissed speculations that some Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders may leave the party after the party's poor performance in the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. He was responding to a question on the buzz of former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Rajapur Rajan Salvi leaving the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

In the Lok Sabha elections held last year, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats in the 543-member House, above the majority figure of 272. However, the BJP remained far from a majority on its own as compared to the last two terms. Raut had claimed that I doubt whether the government at the Center will be able to last till 2026. Modi will not complete his term and when that happens, there will be changes not only in Maharashtra but also in other places (states).

Mahayuti's victory in Maharashtra

The performance of Shiv Sena (UBT) was not good in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The party contested on 36 seats but won only 10. BJP won more than 132 seats. If we talk about the constituents of the BJP-led Mahayuti, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena managed to win 57 seats and Ajit Pawar's NCP 41 seats. Mahavikas Aghadi (Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT, NCP-SP) won only 46 seats.