Raut claims RSS wants Fadnavis as Deputy PM, says big political shifts due in months

Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut has claimed that big developments are due in politics in the coming period. Raut said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's successor. He said the RSS position is that Fadnavis should first be made Deputy Prime Minister, and that discussions on this are under way.

According to Raut, major movements have begun beneath the political surface, and big political developments will occur in the next three to four months. He claimed the political winds in the country have started to change.

Raut said Modi will not remain Prime Minister. He said the standing of Modi and Shah within the Sangh Parivar and their own party is extremely poor. The RSS has now become burdened by them, he said, as the country and the BJP already had been earlier. He added that they are being hated from all sides. Raut said that if Modi stays in the post, the entire government would have to be changed. He also said Modi will have to go, and that Gyanesh Kumar will have gone before that.

Raut drew a comparison with an earthquake, saying small tremors come from underground before it strikes, cots shake and fans sway. He said the same has now begun in the country and within the BJP. In a suggestive remark, he said very big shocks will hit politics in November, December and January.

Raut claimed that, whatever anyone may say, a position is being taken at senior levels in the BJP and the RSS that Fadnavis should get a place as Deputy Prime Minister and should be Modi's successor. He said there is such a discussion in the RSS.

Raut said that if this is happening, his appeal to Fadnavis is that he should lay the foundation of democracy in Maharashtra. He said the way Fadnavis yesterday rejected the CJP's agitation was wrong.

Raut said Modi is anti-democratic and therefore will have to go. He said Fadnavis should learn this lesson before he goes. Citizens must understand why they have revolted against Modi, he said. Raut said that however big one may be in this country, or even with the backing of industrialists, if people turn angry and come out on the streets once, they will chase and beat them. He also claimed that many people are trying to distance themselves from the government so that such a time does not come.