In what could lead to a fierce Maha Vikas Aghadi vs BJP clash in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut - a close aide of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray - will expose “three and a half leaders” of the BJP on Tuesday.
Raut, however, did not mention what he meant by three and a half, or who these leaders were, but asked the media to wait till 4 pm on Tuesday.
“Wait for few hours….’hamne kaafi bardasht kiya, aab barbad karange’…at 4 pm (Tuesday) at Shiv Sena Bhavan there would be no-holds-barred press conference,” Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, said on Monday.
Raut claimed that answers will be given to all the “false” allegations made against the Shiv Sena and the Thackeray family, and “dadagiri’ of the central agencies and how it is being misused by the BJP.
“In the next few days, three and a half BJP leaders would be in jail and (former Home Minister and NCP leader) Anil Deshmukh would be out,” he said. "They (BJP) are threatening us...this minister would go in jail, that minister would go in jail...now these three and a half BJP leaders would go in jail....they have lost their sleep," he added.
Raut refused to name any BJP leader as of now. “Wait for a few more hours,” he said.
Top Shiv Sena leaders including MPs, MLAs and MLCs, office bearers are expected to be present at the news conference even as Raut has got support from the two MVA allies - NCP and Congress.
The BJP, however, has reacted sharply to Raut’s move. “Raut seems to have lost his mental balance,” senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar said.
Raut said BJP leaders know what he is talking about. “The BJP leaders should see the press conference and also the chiefs of the central agencies,” he said.
“Don't threaten us with the use of central agencies. We are not going to get scared. Do whatever you want, I can't be scared off…enough is enough,” he said.
“Its time, people of Maharashtra would speak…this is the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, we are inspired by Balasaheb Thackeray,” said Raut.
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