Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader and the Member of Parliament, Sanjay Raut said that Shiv Sena and BJP are not India-Pakistan referring to the difficult relationship between former allies. The senior leader of the Maharashtra government added that the political ways of the party might be different but the friendship shared by them "will remain intact", reported ANI.
He was responding to the BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis saying that Shiv Sena and BJP are not enemies despite their differences. Fadnavis also said that the decision regarding alliances is taken based on prevailing circumstances, no ifs and buts.
Fadnavis also accused Sanjay Raut of changing stands quickly. He accused Shiv Sena of fighting elections with the BJP and later joining hands with Congress and NCP to form the state government. "Sanjay Raut speaks something in the morning and something else at night," he said.
In the Maharashtra Assembly polls of 2019, BJP was the single largest party with 105 seats. Shiv Sena won 56 seats and the NCP had 54 seats. Congress also won 44 seats. The three parties joined hands to win a majority at the 288 member assembly.
Shiv Sena and BJP had a conflict over the chief ministerial post.
Raut took the example of recently separated Bollywood couple Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao to draw parallels between the Shiv Sena-BJP situations. The power couple had said following their divorce announcement that they will remain co-parents and family despite not being husband and wife.