Lok Sabha polls: Sanjay Raut claims Amit Shah, Devendra Fadnavis worked to ensure Nitin Gadkari’s defeat.

Sanjay Raut alleged that Eknath Shinde distributed ₹25-30 crore in every constituency, and his machinery worked to defeat candidates of Ajit Pawar’s NCP. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis worked for Nitin Gadkari’s defeat in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. “Modi, Shah and Fadnavis worked for Gadkari’s defeat in Nagpur. Fadnavis unwillingly joined the campaign for Gadkari when he realised he couldn’t be defeated. The RSS people in Nagpur are openly saying Fadnavis helped the opposition to get Gadkari defeated,” PTI quoted Raut’s article in his party’s mouthpiece “Saamna”. The Sena (UBT) leader alleged that Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde had distributed ₹25-30 crore in every constituency, and his machinery worked to defeat candidates of the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. Taking a potshot at Yogi Adityanath, he said the Uttar Pradesh chief minister will be replaced if the Modi-Shah government returns to power after the Lok Sabha elections. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrasekhar Bawankule hit out at Raut, calling him ‘delusional’. “The BJP is not a party but a family. People who have always played politics of factionalism will never understand family bonds. Modi, Shah, Yogi Adityanath, Gadkari and Fadnavis are part of the BJP’s family. We always work on the principle of nation first, then party and last self,” he was quoted by PTI. “For Raut, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar always comes first, his interests and Uddhav Thackeray come last,” he added. “If Raut has the courage, he should write a column about how he tried to become the chief minister in 2019 (when the undivided Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress),” the state BJP chief said.