Mumbai. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the current political scenario in Maharashtra would have been different if senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde was alive. The late Munde and Pramod Mahajan were regarded as the architects of the alliance between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, which formed its first joint government in Maharashtra in 1995. Munde held the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995-1999.
Raut told reporters, “Gopinath Munde had worked hard to ensure that the alliance between Shiv Sena and BJP not only continues but remains strong. There is no leader of Munde’s stature in the BJP with whom one can talk. He understood the politics of the state and Shiv Sena very well.”
Both Munde and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar have their birthdays on December 12. Responding to Raut’s comments, Munde’s daughter and former Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde said, “Even I feel if Balasaheb Thackeray and Munde ji were around, the political scenario would have been different. One can think positively about it in future.”
Munde died in a road accident in Delhi in June 2014. Regarding Sharad Pawar, Raut said that Pawar has an important role in the work of forming an alternative opposition alliance in the country. He said, “Pawar’s contribution to the defense and agriculture sectors in India is enormous. Without Pawar, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) experiment would not have been possible.” (agency)