"What was MVA?": Sanjay Raut hits out at Fadnavis "diplomacy" argument

Mumabi (Maharashtra) [India]: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday hit back at Devendra Fadnavis' "diplomacy" metaphor which the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister had used while explaining his party's decision to include Ajit Pawar-led NCP in their alliance.

Sanjay Raut questioned BJP saying how come their alliance with NCP is "diplomacy" while the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance forged by the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in 2019, is referred to as "dishonesty".

"Both Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis spoke about diplomacy yesterday. They said their alliance with NCP is diplomacy, then what was our alliance with NCP and Congress? What was MVA? if you do it then it is diplomacy and if we do it, it is dishonesty?" Raut asked.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson further added that the Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed to keep "dishonest" people out of power.

"You people are dishonest. To keep people like you away from governance, we did the same diplomacy in 2019 like you," Raut said.

Speaking at a party event, Fadnavis explained that the BJP’s decision to include the Ajit Pawar-led faction of NCP can be described as a "diplomacy" to win the war against those who had betrayed the party.

Some BJP leaders had recently expressed dissatisfaction over the induction of NCP leaders, whom their party had earlier accused of corruption, into their alliance.

Responding to this Fadnavis said the BJP has “an emotional friendship” with the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and a “political friendship” with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP.

The Deputy Chief Minister further added that the NCP will also become "an emotional friend" of the BJP over the years.

A few weeks back, in a surprise move, NCP's Ajit Pawar joined hands with the Shiv Sena-BJP, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.