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Uddhav Thackeray will continue as CM, won't be replaced after 2.5 years: Sanjay Raut

If someone talks about this, then it is nothing but lie and rumour, he said

PTI30-07-2020_000145B

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, on Sunday, rubbished rumours of a change of guard in the state saying Uddhav Thackeray will be the chief minister for the full five-year term.

It is a rumour that the Shiv Sena chief minister will be replaced after 2.5 years, Raut said. "When the three parties formed the government, they committed and decided that Uddhav Thackeray will be chief minister for five years. If someone talks about this, then it is nothing but lie and rumour," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had crumbled in 2019 over the issue of chief ministership. The Sena, which was one of the oldest allies of the BJP, later formed an unlikely alliance with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. Thackeray' recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi had set off political speculations in the state.

Raut said the Maha Vikas Aghadi was not a merger but an alliance of three parties and all the three are free to expand or strengthen their parties. “We don't have any commitment to contest every election together. In local polls, local leaders take the decision. We only strategize for Lok Sabha and state elections,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier, Raut had alleged that Shiv Sena was virtually treated as "slaves" and attempts were made to finish off the party politically when it was in power with the BJP in Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019.

"The Shiv Sena had a secondary status in the previous government and was (treated) like slaves. Attempts were also made to finish off our party by misusing the very power which was enjoyed because of our support," the Sena MP said whiel addresing party workers in Jalgaon on Saturday.

—With PTI inputs

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