Stay within limits: Ashish Shelar hits back at Sanjay Raut amid Shiv Sena symbol row

BJP Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar. File Pic

The BJP's Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar on Sunday warned Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut to stay "within limits", saying he had never fought or won any election in his life.

Shelar's remark was in response to Raut's statement that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is "never taken seriously".

"Whatever Home Minister Amit Shah says is seldom taken seriously. What can we say about people who believe in purchasing justice and truth? As to who won or lost Maharashtra will be known to the people in due course. We'll not say anything now," Raut said on Sunday after the Union Home minister attended an event in Pune, which was held to celebrate the Election Commission's decision to award the Shiv Sena's signature 'bow and arrow' symbol to the ruling Eknath Shinde faction.

Hitting back at Raut, the BJP's Mumbai chief said, "Sanjay Raut should stay within his limits. He never fought or won an election in his life."

Also lashing out at former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for calling the EC a "slave of the BJP", Shelar said the chief of the rival Shiv Sena faction was frustrated and distressed over losing his claim to the party's symbol.

Also Read: BJP-Shinde combine will win more than 150 seats in BMC polls: Ashish Shelar

"When a person (Uddhav Thackeray) is frustrated or depressed, he can say anything. He has clearly lost sense. He sacrificed the founding ideals of the Shiv Sena and Hindutva at the altar of politics," said the BJP's Mumbai chief.

Earlier, Raut alleged behind-the-scenes transactions worth Rs 2000 crore, paving the way for the Eknath Shinde faction to get the party's name and 'bow and arrow' symbol.

Raut's remark came days after the poll panel awarded the party name 'Shiv Sena' and the symbol to the faction led by the Maharashtra CM.

Claiming that the Uddhav faction was unfairly stripped off the Sena's symbol and name, Raut said funds worth Rs 2,000 crore changed hands over a period of six months, eventually resulting in the EC awarding the Sena name and symbol to the Shinde faction.

"The way our party name and symbol were taken away from us was unfair and unjust. It was a business deal as part of which an amount of Rs 2,000 crore changed hands over six months. And this is my only initial estimate," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

He added that his claim of a big-money transaction going down ahead of the EC's ruling was "100 per cent true", as he had "proof" which would he would disclose later.

"I believe deals were struck and transactions worth Rs 2000 crores made for the eventual allotment of the Shiv Sena's name and symbol. This is only a preliminary estimate and it is 100 per cent true. Soon many more facts will be revealed. This had never happened in the history of the country," Raut tweeted earlier.

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