BJP's political growth in Maha because of Bal Thackeray: Raut

Balasaheb would have been happy, he added.Raut said that Bal Thackerays ideology was that allparties should go beyond politics and come together in theinterest of the state Several Sena leaders, including film actor UrmilaMatondkar who joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led party recently,paid their tributes.

The credit for the BJP'spolitical growth in Maharashtra goes to late Bal Thackeray andthe Shiv Sena, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after paying tributes to theSena founder on the occasion of his 95th birth anniversary athis memorial in ShivajiPark in central Mumbai, Raut said theBJP would not have been able to expand its base in rural areasof Maharashtra if Sena had not aligned with that party.

''The credit for the rise of today's BJP goes toBalasaheb. If Shiv Sena takes a different political stand inthe interest of the country and Maharashtra, that doesn't meanthe party has deviated from his (Bal Thackeray's) ideology,''Raut said, in a veiled swipe at the BJP.

The Shiv Sena used to be one of the oldest allies ofthe BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) before itwalked out of the fold in 2019 while accusing its former allyof not honouring a pre-poll promise in Maharashtra.

In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena-BJP government had firstcome to power in 1995.

Both the parties again shared power, though withchanged equations, from 2014 to 2019 with Devendra Fadnavis ofthe BJP being at the helm, before they fell out after the 2019Assembly polls on the issue of sharing the post of chiefminister.

Since then, the BJP has been accusing the Sena, whichshares power with ideologically incompatible NCP and Congressin the state, of diluting Bal Thackeray's ideology of Hindutvafor the sake of power.

''Every party needs to take a political stand in theinterest of that particular state, the country and its people.

What is important is staying that course and succedding...andthe Shiv Sena has done that,'' he said.

Raut, also the chief spokesperson of the Sena, saidBal Thackeray would have been happy with the way the Sena andthe Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are working in the state.

''Uddhav Thackeray is a popular chief minister inIndia.... Balasaheb would have been happy,'' he added.

Raut said that Bal Thackeray's ''ideology'' was that allparties should go beyond politics and come together in theinterest of the state Several Sena leaders, including film actor UrmilaMatondkar who joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led party recently,paid their tributes.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)