Raut Says No Effect of Delhi Results on Maharashtra Politics
“INDI Alliance is there and will remain intact in the future too,” said Raut while speaking on the Delhi assembly poll results.
Mumbai: Senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has asserted that there will be no impact of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) defeat in Delhi assembly polls on the opposition’s INDIA bloc in the country. The INDIA bloc will remain intact, he said, adding that the AAP and Congress should have contested the Delhi assembly polls together.
“INDI Alliance is there and will remain intact in the future too,” said Raut while speaking on the Delhi assembly poll results.
“It is sad if Congress is happy about AAP’s defeat in Delhi. It was the responsibility of both, the AAP and Congress, that they should have sat down and discussed seat sharing but both fought elections separately and lost the elections. They should have sat down and discussed seat sharing. The outcome of the Delhi polls would have been different if the AAP and Congress had contested in alliance,” he added.
Raut further claimed that the BJP wants opposition parties to fight among themselves. Till the time we fight among ourselves, we cannot defeat dictatorship, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
In the Delhi assembly polls, the AAP and Congress, both part of the opposition’s nationwide INDIA bloc, contested separately and suffered defeat. The ruling AAP was ousted from power, after it could secure only 22 seats, a huge drop from its previous tally of 62. While AAP chief and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was defeated, the Congress failed to win even a single seat.
The BJP returned to power in the national capital after 27 years by winning 48 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
The Sena (UBT) leader hit out at veteran social activist Anna Hazare by questioning the latter’s silence on corruption allegations made against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over recent years.
“Hazare is happy over Kejriwal’s defeat. But why did he remain silent when corruption occurred during Modi’s rule? The country is being looted with wealth concentrated in the hands of a single industrialist. What could be the secret behind Hazare’s silence at such a time?” Raut asked.
After the Delhi polls results came out, Hazare claimed Kejriwal did not pay attention to his advice and “only focused on liquor,” a reference to the scrapped excise policy brought in by the outgoing AAP government. Kejriwal was overwhelmed by money power, Hazare had said.
