Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has arguably been the national face of the Shiv Sena for over a month since the regional party clashed with the BJP over the issue of a rotational arrangement for the chief minister's post.
Now with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray assuming office as head of a coalition government with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra, it seems Raut has a new mission: Forming a national 'non-BJP' front.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, Raut claimed, "We are busy with politics in Goa; the politics in Maharashtra is over". Raut was responding to a question about a court issuing summons to former BJP chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegedly concealing information about criminal cases in his election affidavits.
Raut declared that the "Goa Forward Party was forming an alliance with the Shiv Sena. A new political front is taking shape in Goa, just like it happened in Maharashtra." Raut added, “You will soon see a miracle in Goa also,” hinting at political realignments.
Raut emphasised such political realignments, "will happen across the country. After Maharashtra, it is Goa, then we will go to other states. We want to make a non-BJP political front in this country".
The Goa Forward Party, which has four MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly, was a crucial factor in helping the BJP return to power in the 2017 Assembly polls even though the Congress was the single-largest party then with 17 MLAs.
also read
- Lok Sabha polls: MVA seals poll pact in Maharashtra, Congress to contest in 17 seats
- Sitars, tanpuras made in Maharashtra's Miraj town get GI tags
- In big relief for Amravati MP Navneet Kaur Rana, SC sets aside HC verdict cancelling her caste certificate
- Congress expels Sanjay Nirupam for anti-party remarks
- Sanjay Nirupam to leave Congress after party’s disciplinary action?
Goa Forward Party leader, Vijai Sardesai was made deputy chief minister in the Pramod Sawant government in March, but was unceremoniously removed in July, along with other Goa Forward Party ministers, after 10 Congress MLAs shifted to the BJP. The Goa Forward Party has since been in the opposition.
In a tweet on November 26, Sardesai apologised for supporting the BJP after the death of then chief minister Manohar Parrikar in March. Sardesai tweeted, ""I am not reluctant to admit that I was wrong in my continued support to BJP after Parrikar's death. It was emotional time and I felt obligated to him in his final moments even though he was unsure of Dr Pramod Sawant as his successor. For this, I say sorry," Sardesai tweeted on Tuesday.
Sardesai had faced heavy criticism for joining the BJP-led government in 2017 after he had campaigned against the saffron party before the polls.
The Shiv Sena's proposed alliance with the Goa Forward Party is unlikely to have an immediate impact on Goa politics as the BJP's numbers in the Assembly have risen to 27 MLAs. However, the entry of the 10 Congress defectors, some of whom have been given plum ministerial berths, has caused unease within the BJP.
