Sanjay Raut says Sharad Pawar will never go with BJP, calls merger talk baseless

Two questions are being discussed in Maharashtra these days. Will Sharad Pawar join the NDA? Will the two Nationalist parties merge? Everyone is guessing in their own way. Speaking to the media, Thackeray faction leader Sanjay Raut dismissed the first possibility. He said Sharad Pawar would never go with the BJP. On the merger of the Nationalist parties, he said nothing directly.

According to Raut, reports about Pawar's party are being spread continuously and the discussion is being created deliberately. He said the Prime Minister called and Modi said that they would run the country together. Raut asked that if the country was to be run together, why were our parties broken, why was the Nationalist party broken, why was the Shiv Sena broken. He said all these reports are meaningless and should be ignored. Pawar is a strong pillar of the INDIA bloc and will remain so. Raut said that however many rumours anyone spreads, there will be no flaw in his progressive ideology; there has been none in all these years and there will be none in future.

Raut said he had met Sharad Pawar the previous day. He said Pawar's health is not such that a long discussion is possible, as he is undergoing treatment. He described the reports about the party as Pawar's internal matter. Raut said the Ajitdada faction faces difficulties in the Mahayuti and is not getting respect, so it wants to work under Pawar's leadership. Whether to take them along is Pawar's decision. Raut said plainly that Pawar will not go into another stream so that you may get power.

On the merger, Raut said different statements are coming from within Ajitdada's faction itself. He said that where they are, all is not well for them. Raut said only the cases against Hasan Mushrif and Praful Patel were closed, and Patel's assets were freed. Some people benefited, others did not. According to him, some people hold posts in the party, but all the reins are in Parth Pawar's hands and they have to work with Parth Pawar.

Speaking about Parth Pawar, Raut said he may not take those people into confidence, but he is taking the party forward in his own way. He is a young leader, he may have his own direction and thinking for running the party, and perhaps he wants to give the new generation a chance. He has the right to run the party in his own way.

On Praful Patel meeting Pawar, Raut said Sharad Pawar is a full-time politician and has been in politics and social service for the past 60 years. According to him, Jayant Patil came to meet Pawar the previous day, Balasaheb Thorat was also there, and Adani was there too. So discussions on different subjects keep taking place.