Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 21 (ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday questioned the silence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over an alleged “threat” by state minister and Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil, who reportedly warned that those opposing Eknath Shinde’s return as chief minister would be “wiped out”.
Raut challenged the Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, to respond to the remarks made by Patil. He alleged that Patil threatened to eliminate anyone opposing Eknath Shinde’s bid to become Chief Minister, questioning how a minister in the state cabinet could make such a remark.
“Minister Gulabrao Patil has threatened, saying that Eknath Shinde should be made the CM. He has said that if someone comes in the way of Eknath Shinde being made the CM, they will be wiped out. The person is a member of the cabinet of Devendra Fadnavis. These are all members of the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang, who are in Fadnavis’ cabinet. Who will they wipe out? Devendra Fadnavis? The CM? This is a threat,” Raut said while addressing a press conference here.
“If this is a threat by Gulabrao Patil, what is Devendra Fadnavis doing? Are you scared of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang? You are the Home Minister of the state. Look at what is happening in your state and state cabinet,” he added.
Raut’s remarks come after Gulabrao Patil said that his desire was to see Eknath Shinde as CM of Maharashtra in the future.
“In future…I pray that Eknath Shinde becomes the Chief Minister. Jo Jo Shinde sahab na aadhvayil…tyacha satyanaash ho,” Patil said while addressing a gathering at the Dussehra rally organised in Goregaon.
Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2019 the “biggest vote theft” in the state’s political history.
Shinde, while addressing a massive gathering of party leaders, MPs, MLAs, and ‘Shiv Sainiks’ on Tuesday, in a targeted attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, asserted that those who betrayed the mandate of the electorate in 2019 are the true perpetrators of political deception.
“When the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had a clear majority in the 2019 assembly elections, you formed a government with the Maha Vikas Aghadi; that was the biggest vote theft. Those who stabbed Maharashtra in the back to become Chief Minister are the real vote robbers,” he said. (ANI)
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