“Nothing Political”: Sanjay Raut, Devendra Fadnavis Dismiss Rumours After Meeting

Confirming that he met Devendra Fadnavis, Raut said it was for an interview for the Shiv Sena mouthpiece “Saamana” — which he is in charge of.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut met in Mumbai on Saturday. The meeting between Fadnavis and Sanjay Raut had rekindled talks of a political earthquake in the state.

In the last few days, BJP had cornered Shiv Sena and MahaVikasAghadi on many issues. The BJP had targeted the Mahavikas Aghadi on various issues like the situation of Corona in the state, the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, or the conflict between Kangana and Shiv Sena. These allegations had created bitterness in the Shiv Sena-BJP who were once an ally.

However, confirming that he met Devendra Fadnavis, Raut said it was for an interview for the Shiv Sena mouthpiece “Saamana” — which he is in charge of. He said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was aware of it.

“Devendra Fadnavis is not our enemy. We have worked with him. I met Fadnavis for his interview for Saamna. This was a pre-decided meeting. Even Uddhav Thackeray was aware of this,” Raut told reporters.

“Is it a crime to meet Fadnavis, who is a former chief minister and now the Opposition leader in the state Assembly? We have ideological differences but we are not enemies,” he added.

He also said that said he had interviewed NCP leader Sharad Pawar and had also announced interviews with Devendra Fadnavis, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Keshav Upadhye, the chief spokesperson of the BJP, also posted on social media that there was no political angle to the meeting. “Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it,” Upadhye tweeted.

“Fadnavis informed Raut that he would grant him the interview after returning from the Bihar poll campaign,” he added.

अशी देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांची
इच्छा असल्याने एकदा भेटून प्रारूप ठरविण्यासाठी ही भेट झाली. बिहार निवडणुकीतून परतल्यानंतर ही मुलाखत देण्याचे देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांनी त्यांना सांगितले आहे. या भेटीला कुठलाही राजकीय संदर्भ नाही.

— Keshav Upadhye (@keshavupadhye) September 26, 2020

Shiv Sena, a long-term ally of the BJP, parted ways with the saffron party after the state assembly elections last year. Sanjay Raut was at the forefront of the attacks launched by the Sena on their former ally BJP. After the heated politics between the government and opposition over the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and Kangana Rauant controversy that followed, the meeting between Raut and Fadnavis had garnered many eyeballs.