EC decision part of Rs 2000 crore deal to get Shiv Sena name and its symbol: Sanjay Raut

A 'deal of Rs 2000 crore' has taken place to 'purchase' the Shiv Sena party name and its 'bow and arrow' symbol, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut claimed on Sunday. However, the camp led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde dismissed the claim'.

Raut claimed that a builder close to the ruling dispensation had shared the information with him. Claiming that the information was 100 per cent true, he further claimed that Rs 2,000 crore was a preliminary figure.

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The Rajya Sabha member said he would soon disclose proof o back his claim.

The Election Commission had on Friday recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and allocated the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it. The Election  Commission had, in its 78-page order on the protracted battle for control of the organisation, allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to keep the 'flaming torch' poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the Assembly bypolls in the state.

Claiming the Election Commission decision as a deal, Raut alleged that Rs 2,000 crore is not a small amount to 'purchase' the name Shiv Sena.

'I have reliable information that to get the Shiv Sena name and its symbol there was a deal of Rs 2000 crore. This is 100 per cent true. Many things will be revealed soon. This has never before happened in this country's history,' Raut tweeted.

Responding to media persons' queries about Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent 'licking soles of those with opposite ideology' jibe against Uddhav, Raut asked, "What is the present CM licking? Maharashtra does not give importance to what Amit Shah says. The current CM has no right to take Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's name."

Shah had on Saturday said the Election Commission order declaring the faction headed by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena had shown those who chose to "lick the soles" of people with opposite ideologies which side the truth was on.

Without naming Uddhav Thackeray, Shah also reiterated that there was no agreement on sharing the chief minister's post in the run-up to the 2019 Assembly polls. The Shiv Sena broke its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party after the results of the 2019 Assembly polls were declared, claiming the latter had reneged on a promise to share the chief minister's post with it. Uddhav Thackeray subsequently teamed up with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress to lead the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) till it fell in June last year after Shinde rebelled. 

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