Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut's bizarre claim about CM's official residence Varsha: 'Red deer horns buried in lawn'

Sanjay Raut questioned why Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was not moving to Varsha, the official residence

Varsha File image of Chief Minister's official residence Varsha | X

Though it has been months since Eknath Shinde stepped down as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he has yet to vacate his official residence of Chief Minister, Varsha. The Shiv Sena chief's prolonged stay in Varsha has stoked controversy with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut making a bizarre claim that new Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was afraid to step foot into Varsha.

"What has happened at Varsha bungalow that Fadnavis is afraid to go there," Raut told reporters on Monday. He questioned why the Chief Minister was not moving to the residence allotted by the government to him. "The Fadnavis family should go live there. If they are not ready to sleep there, then there is an issue. What is he fearing? What happened? I have not said anywhere that there will be lemons and chillies when Fadnavis goes there," Raut questioned. 

He said there were chatters about a superstitious practice in Varsha where someone dug a hole in the lawn outside the residence and buried the horns of a red deer sacrificed at Kamakhya Devi temple so that no one else could hold the chief minister's post. "There is a talk. Their people are saying it. The staff there are saying it. I don’t know if it is true or false," Raut claimed.

He added that plans were afoot to demolish Varsha. " A decision has been made to demolish the bungalow and construct a new one. I have information that they plan to completely excavate and rebuild it from scratch," Raut said.

However, Minister for Information Technology Ashish Shelar rubbished the demolition plans, stating the repair work on the Varsha bungalow was still underway and that Fadnavis would move in after a few days. He said Raut should first explain how the Matoshree 2 bungalow was built before talking about other bungalows.

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