Congress Claims Maharashtra CM Post, Sanjay Raut Rebukes

Top Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has been admonished by the Shiv Sena (UBT) for his unambiguous declaration that the next Maharashtra chief minister will be from his party. Sena MP Sanjay Raut has reminded Thorat that the Congress could win so many Lok Sabha seats in the state because of the Sena. The three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is presently passing through a critical stage of seat sharing. Expectedly, the main partners – the Congress, the Sena and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar – are vying for a larger share of the seats. Moreover, Pawar has already announced that his party is not in the race for the CM’s post. Thus, he has adroitly pushed the ball in the Sena’s court since Raut had been projecting his leader Uddhav Thackeray as the next CM. Till now, the Congress had maintained that a decision in this regard would be taken after the assembly election results are out. Hence, the announcement by Thorat, has jolted the Sena to indicate that it is also in the fray for the coveted post, earlier occupied by Uddhav. To reaffirm, Raut has remarked that though the MVA’s confidence has boosted, the Congress won’t think of fighting the election on its own strength. “If some elements are over-confident of their clout, the picture will be clear soon,” Raut said. The statements by Thorat and Raut are interpreted as a hidden power struggle in MVA though both have claimed that all will be well in the end.