Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut is seen as one of the most consequential Maharashtra politicians in recent times. He was instrumental in making the original Shiv Sena break ranks with the BJP in 2019 and betraying the party so that Uddhav became the CM and not BJP's Devendra Fadnavis. More than two years later, the BJP dislodged the government by breaking Shiv Sena into two pieces.
In his latest utterance, Raut suggested that the BJP's massive victories in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are suspected to be because of EVM tampering. "The mandate should be welcomed. But there is a suspicion in people's minds that the results were impossible, especially in MP and Chhattisgarh. This suspicion has to be made to go away. Have one election on the ballot paper so that the suspicion goes away once and for all," Raut said.
This utterance comes at a time when there are reports that several Congress MLAs from the State have been in touch with the BJP to jump ship after witnessing Sunday's results. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will see a tight war between a resurgent NDA (which is the current ruling party in Maha) and an ambitious Maha Ghatbandhan.
